Suzhou

Yesterday’s excursion to Suzhou was definitely a success. After getting up bright and early and having a quick breakfast of bao, Reina, Avik, and I made our way to the Shanghai Train Station for a half hour ride to garden city of Suzhou. We began the adventure, first visiting the Humble Administrator’s Garden (Zhuozheng Yuan). Our theory was that by visiting the main touristy garden first, we would beat the crowds. This was not exactly the case. It was easy to see that the 10-acre garden was beautiful, but the swarms of Chinese tourists and multiple tour guides with megaphones did somewhat kill the atmosphere. There were still some wonderful surprises and moments to be had, however. In a few sections of the garden, we found ourselves almost entirely alone and able to truly see the garden. There was also a section with cave-like walkways which were both exciting and a great escape from the heat.

Our next stop after the Humble Administrator’s Garden was the Suzhou Museum (Suzhou Bowuguan), which was designed by I.M. Pei in 2006. It was his final and favorite work, and in my opinion the museum did a fantastic job of reinterpreting the traditional architecture we saw within the city. The Suzhou Museum is “uniquely personal” for I.M. Pei. In 2002, when he was asked by the Suzhou government to build a large museum on hallowed ground adjoining a complex of 19th-century historical structures and two gardens listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites, he leapt at the opportunity. Although I.M. Pei was born south of Suzhou, in Guangzhou, and grew up mostly in Hong Kong and Shanghai, his ancestors lived in Suzhou for hundreds of years. He spent several memorable summers in the Suzhou gardens as a youth.

The Suzhou Museum project was, of course, very controversial, much like his glass pyramid was at the Louvre. It may just be the architect in me, but I think the project did a fantastic job of retaining its own identity and still respecting the World Heritage sites it lays between. As a museum, the interior spaces were filled with surprises, but still didn’t distract from the art held within. To be perfectly honest, the art was interesting, but Reina, Avik, and I were much more interested in the architecture! I’m sure most of the Chinese tourists thought we were a little nuts, trying to capture the perfect photos, not of the art, but of the interior spaces.

Leaving the Suzhou Museum was an unexpected experience. We left I.M. Pei’s work and found ourselves in a labyrinth of historical Chinese corridors and courtyards. It was beautiful and also difficult to navigate. We eventually made our way back out to the Suzhou streets and canals. We still had some time before lunch, so we decided to take a boat ride through the canals. It was a gorgeous and relaxing ride after the hours we had spent walking so far, and you could really start to see Suzhou outside the tourist’s perspective. Halfway through the ride, our “gondolier” started speaking to us in Mandarin. We had no idea what he was saying so we just smiled and nodded. The man burst out singing what must have been a traditional song. It was so unexpected, I couldn’t help but smile. I decided right there that the day was officially sealed as a great day. Our gondolier continued to serenade us throughout the boat ride, and Reina, Avik, and I clapped and cheered for him after each song. When we docked, we decided that it was time for lunch.

We found a small restaurant along one of the side streets and split some spicy tofu and pork, a vegetable that may or may not have been eggplant, and a skillet of beef and peppers. We took some time to relax, digest, and plan out our next sequence of destinations. We left the restaurant and started south for the Temple of Mystery (Xuanmiao Guan).

The Temple of Mystery is a two-tiered 3^rd century Taoist temple which was damaged during the Taiping Rebellion during the 19^th century. Many people were lighting candles inside and outside of the temple. The temple itself is surrounded by what was described as an ancient Suzhou style bazaar. The park in front of the temple was a wonderful public space and reminded me of some of the smaller parks I visited in Oaxaca. Reina, Avik, and I took some time to sit and watch a man who was singing in a gravelly voice similar to Tom Waits and dancing a pseudo-graceful ballet.

Next, we made our way east, in search of the Kunqu Opera Museum (Kunqu Bowuguan). Since we were taking the back alleys of Suzhou which were much more interesting than the main streets of the city, we ended up overshooting the Opera Museum and found ourselves facing a sign that seemed to claim the Couples’ Garden Retreat (Ou Yuan) was behind the whitewashed wall. There was a gate nearby and inside was an empty lot. I was wondering whether this was some sort of parody or artistic statement of a garden, when Avik pointed out the arrow at the bottom of the sign and the distance marker. The Couples’ Garden was a ways away and empty lot was just an empty lot. Oops!

We circled back to the Opera Museum, and found ourselves in a ghost town of a building. The three of us found ourselves completely alone in a beautiful Chinese courtyard with a steady breeze slowly filtering in. It was an almost spiritual experience, escaping the rampant tourism and chaos of the streets and being able to experience the untrammeled wonder of a traditional structure. We agreed that these are the moments that make the journey, the unexpected stops along the way. It was fun seeing the touristy sights, but the unanticipated moments are much more special. “Travelers don’t know where they’re going, tourists don’t know where they’ve been.” I consider myself a traveler.

After we finally left the museum, we made our way along the canal, past numerous boutiques and teahouses, stopping for fruit smoothies along the way. Or final destination before wandering back to the Suzhou train station was the North Temple Pagoda (Beisi Ta), a 250 ft (76 meter) tower. It was initially built in the 3^rd century, like the Temple of Mystery, and it was completely reconstructed in the 16^th century.

We were wiped out but satisfied at the end of our outing. After a half hour train ride back to Shanghai and a quick taxi ride back to the hotel, it was time to get some rest.