Suzhou

Today I want to tell you about another nice trip we did while Oma & Opa where here. Btw, don't we look cute in this picture?

Suzhou is just one hour away from Shanghai so we took a ride with our driver Mr. Guo and went there for the weekend. I was really looking forward to going there because the pictures of the city in the travel guide looked really amazing ! (pity I can't read yet :-)


With a population of more than 6 million people you would expect it to be a BIG industrial or modern city but all of us were surprised by how beautiful was the city center. The city has two big highlights: the traditional Chinese gardens and silk (mom was pretty excited about that one though I have to say that we didn't really give her a chance to buy much).

Right next to the hotel we had the Pan Men Gardens. As we went for a visit very early in the morning (my fault) we had a chance to enjoy first hand all the traditional activities: groups of people singing, dancing, doing tai chi... I have to say that Chinese people are very active in the mornings, even more than I am !

Suzhou gardens are really something amazing and each one of them has something special (and there are more than 20!). All of them have nice traditional houses, bridges and ponds with orange fishes, but... what I like the most about Chinese gardens are the names: Lingering Garden, Couples Retreat Garden, The retreat & reflection Garden... they all sound so delicate and peaceful...

That reminds me that I really have to start getting up to speed choosing a Chinese name ! mmm, that can be fun :-)

And,... don't you think that there were many foreigners running around ! most of the times we were surrounded by Chinese tourists who where really amused by us but.... this time.... who do you think was the star of the film? DADDYYYYYY !!!

Yes, several girls came by and asked if they could take a picture with us and... there I was all ready to pose when I realized that they were only interested in dad !

German as he is I though he wouldn't be very amused with the idea but, surprise, surprise... here you can see him with a million dollar smile :-) must be mom's influence !