The Road to a friends house is never too long.

Hallo ihr Lieben,
nach ein paar entspannten Tagen in Nanning, ganz im Süden Chinas ging es mit dem Schnellzug 12 Stunden zurück nach Shanghai. Nach knapp 2000 km Reise kam ich dann relativ entspannt wieder in Suzhou an!

Doch es blieben mir keine 24 Stunden um wieder anzukommen, denn es hatte sich Besuch aus Deutschland angemeldet. Meine Freundin Vanessa, die das erste Studienjahr mit mir in Ludwigshafen

absolviert hat, wollte es sich nicht nehmen lassen, den ganzen Weg nach China zu fliegen um andere Freunde und mich zu besuchen.

Bei schönstem Wetter sind wir einige Tage durch Suzhous Gärten und Parks gewandelt und haben jeden einzelnen sehr genossen! Denn während der ersten Frühlingstage blühten vor allem die Pflaumenbäume und tauchten alles in ein rosanes und pinkes Licht.

Doch zu den einzelnen Gärten hier mehr, leider nur auf Englisch, denn richtig gute deutsche Beschreibungen gibt es kaum.

Blue Wave Pavilion und Ke Garten:
Unlike other gardens, Canglang Pavilion emphasizes the harmony between man-made buildings and the natural environment. Before entering the garden, you can see a beautiful green pool that is surrounded by weeping willows. In the garden you will see incredible man-made rock formations that are divided into two parts.
On the eastern side, the earth has been mixed with natural yellow stones and built in such a manner that it resembles a natural hill. On the western side, exquisite stones gathered from lakes have been used to create another hill of natural appearance. All of these rock formations have been planted with green trees and viridian bamboos that add to the beauty of the scene and create the sensation of walking in a primitive mountain forest. There are also winding corridors with pavilions that link the hills and pools together. As you walk along these corridors that follows a path alongside the unique stone formations and strategically planted ancient trees, it seems as if you were walking in a primitive forest. The architectures built in the garden are simply and classically designed, presenting a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) style.
(https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/jiangsu/suzhou/canglang.htm

Tiger Hill
Tiger Hill, known also as Surging Sea Hill, is a large hillock covering about 3.5 acres (14,100 square metres) and only 118 feet (36 metres) in height. Climbing it, you will find a number of historical sites some of which can be traced back over 2,500 years to the founding of Suzhou. Although the hill is relatively small it has rich history. These are just some of the highlights of what to be found there.
(https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/jiangsu/suzhou/tiger_hill.htm)

Lion Grove
Lion Grove Garden was built in 1342 during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) by a group of Zen Buddhist disciples of Monk Tianru as a memorial of their master - Monk Zhongfeng. Afterwards, it has changed hands and been renamed a number of times. Since Monk Tianru had once researched the Buddhism sutras at Lion Cliff on West Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang Province with the guidance of Monk Zhongfeng, also there were many grotesque rocks in the garden resembling lions, the garden was first given the name Lion Grove. At that time, the garden was a popular center to host activities for literati and Buddhists. Many paintings and poems were inspired by it. Later, its name was changed to Bodhi Orthodox Temple (Puti Zhengzong) and Sheng'en Temple successively.
(https://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/jiangsu/suzhou/lion_grove.htm)

Danke für den Besuch und bis bald,
Svenja