Our last day in Suzhou we spent exploring a famous garden, eating in Andy's favorite noodle restaurant, visiting his high school, walking one of the oldest and well-preserved roads in the city and hanging out in a cozy coffee shop to read and play Scrabble.
First we went to the Garden of the Master of the Nets which is considered to be the best-preserved gardens in the city. It was laid out in the 12th century and later restored in the 18th century as part of the home of a retired official who became a fisherman (hence the name). The garden is composed of living quarters, meeting areas, the central and main garden and several small courtyards. The garden is famous because of its intricate design and use of space. Each part of the garden represents one season of the year and in the autumn part during the Autumn festival you can actually see three different moons (one in the sky, the reflection in the pond, and the moon in a nearby mirror). The gardens are elaborate and beautiful and full of bamboo groves, ponds, rocks, pavilions and bridges. There are also many windows that frame certain parts of the garden (Andy called it 'living artwork on the wall').
After walking around in the garden we visited Andy's high school which also had many gardens, ponds and pavilions and then had noodles and beef in a soup which was tasty. Our final stop for the day was walking around some of the older streets and canals in Suzhou which was really neat. When we got too cold we stopped for coffee at a little cafe and enjoyed a game of scrabble while listening to a Chinese jazz singer.
We returned to Changzhou by train in the evening tired but satisfied with the trip. It was so cool to be shown around by a local. I told Andy that I would take him around Holland any time he wanted to come and visit. I hope some day he can.
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