February 16, 2011, Suzhou, China to Hangzhou, China

Wednesday-

First site to visit was the Lion Grove, a famous rock garden where the rocks are said to resemble lions. It takes quite an imagination to see the lions so our guide said that actually the monk that inspired the garden had a middle name of Lion. That makes a lot more sense. Lions are a favorite animal since they are the King of the jungle. We had a boat ride on the Grand Canal in Suzhou- kind of like Longboat Key….Chinese style.

In the afternoon we visited a silk factory and saw the process of making silk from silkworm eggs to weaving looms. Frank the Senior and Monica engaged in hard bargaining for a silk tie. The vendor had tears in her eyes as they walked away with the tie in hand. Tears of sadness or joy??  The rain picked up but fortunately we were on the way to Hangzhou in the van.