Shanghai is located in a significant river delta and to the
west of the city are vast lowlands intersected by lakes and streams. Mulberries grow here in profusion, which is
the reason Shanghai has been the center of the silk trade for centuries, but so
do many other crops. Many of the towns
here have channeled the water into canals and there are several small villages
where the canals, rather than the streets, are the main thoroughfares.
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| West Lake, Hangzhou |
On Friday morning, Meg and I took a fast train to one of
these towns, Hangzhou, to see the great West Lake. There
was a light drizzle and quite a bit of fog, which made the lake very atmospheric. There are long paths along the lake, on this day filled with people using colorful umbrellas to protect them from the drizzle, and we were able to take a boat ride as well.
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| Foot Bridge, Westlake |
We also visited the Six Harmony Pagoda and Lingyin temple, which has
dozens of images of the Buddha carved in its rock walls.
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| Harmony Pagoda |
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| Entrance to Lingyin Temple |
Hangzhou is the center of green tea
production and we had a lovely visit to one of the farms where, of course, a
cup of green tea was waiting for us. In
the evening, we watched the Impression West Lake show, a dazzling production on
the water designed by Zhang Yimou who created the opening and closing ceremonies for the
Beijing Olympic Games. Performed in the evening with dazzling lights that makes photography very difficult, it tells a local folk tale of two lovers separated by their parents -- very Romeo and Juliet.
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| West Lake Impressions Show |
From Hangzhou we traveled to Suzhou.
There, we visited the Humble Administrator's Garden, a world heritage site created in the 12th century.
I was
struck throughout our tour by the notion that there are no “humble
administrators” in the U.S., especially any who would retire to a place like
Suzhou and devote the rest of their lives to creating a home and garden in and
around a lake, with rooms and pagodas for every purpose.
Seeing something like this really
demonstrates the ancient Chinese ideals of contemplation, serenity, and oneness
with nature.
And although it was crowded with visitors and the spring flowers were not quite out, I find myself still haunted by it weeks later.
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| Humble Administrator's Garden |
In fact, I find a tranquility in all of ancient Chinese architecture -- there is something soothing about those upturned eaves. In this beautifully
preserved garden, there is a pagoda for every season, facing a certain
direction with a view framed by plants and flowers of the season.
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| Roof Detail, Hanshan Temple |
We also enjoyed a ride in one of the
shallow-bottomed canal boats and a visit to Hanshan Temple, about which a famous Chinese poem has been written. Its roofs are decorated with sculpted figures -- fantastic dragons and birds to ward off evil spirits.
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| Street Performance, Tongli |
Our final stop was Tongli, which is perhaps the most
untouched of the water towns.
We saw a
public performance in the town square. In the scene we came upon, two women in traditional dress (what appeared to be a maid and her mistress) were singing about something.
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| Tongli Street (banners advertise shops) |
We also had a chance to visit a busy market street and a few gardens,
all built around water, and to walk over some of Tongli's famous bridges.
The town was
bustling on this Sunday of the Grave Cleaning holiday weekend, with the canal-side cafes full of visitors, almost all
of them Chinese.
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Bridges in Tongli
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