words from the world

To escape from the stickiness and the madness of the Shanghai subway, the excursion to Suzhou turns out to be a particularly interesting destination. Buses leave from Shanghai at regular intervals and the journey lasts about 1h30.
The discovery of the different gardens and alleyways must be done on foot. We begin with the northernmost garden which has a beautiful wooden pagoda. The zen atmosphere, provided by the big Buddha at the entrance of the garden, relaxes us and clears the images of the morning crush in the shanghaian subway out of our minds. Turtles and wildly over fed red fish swim into the tiny lake at the bottom of the garden. They vainly hope someone throws a few biscuit crumbs which won't come because it's a diet day today!





A few minutes later, we embark on a wooden junk in order to enjoy the canals the city is renowned for. We glide over the water and we infiltrate into the narrow canals. The boatman beats time. Weeping willows line the banks before we cross some rickety houses bathed by the canal water.










We walk on southward. We visit the historical center of the town and another peaceful garden. A relaxing and enriching day before taking a return bus to reimmerse ourselves in the Shanghai excitement.