2013 - OCEANIA - GARDEN CITY of SOUZHOU

Today, we are heading inland to the garden city of Souzou.

Would be really odd if I bumped into the couple I met in Singapore. I don't.

Shanghai from the ship - early morning, very misty....

People passing by having breakfast...

Ladies exercising with fans...

The wall behind is the side of the Bund & seems to be miles long. Each block of colour is an individual flower pot..

We stop for a bite to eat & I take these shots waiting by the bus...

amazing what can be squeezed onto one of those 3 wheelers.

Getting close to Souzhou now.. this rack looked cute.

We board a little boat to go for a ride along the canals...

lined by.......Temples....

Bridges...

Little shops..

A bit cold here...people going about their lives...

passing tourists..

and more bridges...

Another temple...

More houses...more laundry...

.....A well earned nap

It's still Chinese new year - but In China this time..

More bridges

....Film stars maybe..

The only Cheongsam that I saw all trip..

They were being filmed....

More bridges...Some descriptions have this called the Venice of China..Not quite..

Hello - more girls...Friendly bunch here..

More friendly people

Hello....

Hi,,,,,

That was a fun little boat ride. Took hundreds of photos.

Off the boat now...& a brief stop at the city wall..

Gloves attached to the handlebars. We could do that here except they would be stolen pretty quick...

The city wall

Who needs trucks..

Still haven't got to the the gardens of the Garden City yet. Been a long day already.

This is a garden , but not the one we are here for. This one is in the Hotel we stopped at for lunch.

Mobile Goldfish....

& finally we are at the garden, except we now learn that these are not gardens that we might expect from the description. This was someones house & the gardens are inside the house. Must have had some cash..

The entrance looking out..

we are going to move through the building...passing a...

A sedan chair

and some interiors...

A pretty pot

& outdoors...to the pond...

it's too cold for much in the way of flowers..but some nice bamboo...

Some nice art decorating the walls as we move indoors again..

This is a strange photo of a tree against a courtyard wall...

another strange shot.. through a doorway into the courtyard..Very Japanese looking, but this is China.

& another...

& yet another... must be the light. I like it..

That's it for the garden city. Not at all what I was expecting from the description but very enjoyable.

Some street life on the way out of Souzhou on the way back to Shanghai..

Another couple of the wall of flowers..taken from the bus on the way to the show to see the Chinese Acrobats. Very exciting but photos not allowed.

I could have done with a massage after that.. It was a long tour & in the evening the show.

On the way back I was still staggered by the size of Shanghai & the absence of the teeming masses. 15 million some say.

People around for sure, but not as many as I expect.

Leave China this evening after the show & head for South Korea...Getting colder all the time.