Things you might not know about China: Chinese gardens rock!

Rocks are a prominent feature in Chinese gardens. In fact, they are often the focus, as you can see in the following photos. Since I love rocks, I'm always fascinated by how many ways they can be used to create interest and texture in a garden. I love Chinese gardens!

















Emma and John on rock outcroppings at the Garden of the Master of the Nets.

















Pathways are always made out of a mosaic of rock, often in intricate patterns, as seen at the Lion Grove Garden






















Rocks from Tai Hu (Tai Lake) are used in the gardens of Suzhou as architecture, as in the labyrinths of Lion Grove Garden, above, and as sculpture, as seen below at the Humble Administrator's Garden.






































Rocks are often cut and framed, their patterns forming a picture. Usually they look like mountains or rivers. This one looks like a river and village to me. I've seen similar rock pictures for sale, and this is one of the main things I would like to aquire here in China.






















This rock specimen has a specially designed stand, which mimics the size and shape of the rock itself. So incredibly beautiful!






















Gardens often use Tai Hu rocks as "bricks" to form tunnels, viewing platforms, and pathways. Here Emma stands at the entrance of a tunnel at the Lion's Grove Garden.



The following are examples of rocks used to create a mountain scene. Notice how much the scale varies. Some even have soil and small plants between the rocks to complete the effect. The first pictures are of rock scenes at Tiger Hill. The last is a modern variation of a mountain scene, located at the Suzhou Museum, designed by I.M. Pei (more on this building in a later post).

Favorite photos

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou, August 19th, 2008

Things you might not know about China: The Colonel's Kingdom

KFC is hugely poplular in China. Suzhou, a city of 6 million, has KFCs everywhere. There are only 3 McDonalds'.

Downtown Suzhou pedestrian street. Notice the KFC lamp-posts. These are a permanent part of the lamp post, not a flag or banner. They light up at night.

More KFC lamp posts in downtown Suzhou.

A KFC in the downtown. If you were standing where this picture was taken, you would be able to see another KFC in the building across the street.

The Colonel's mini-bus. Maybe it's to take you from KFC to KFC, like a pub crawl.

Our neighborhood, Suzhou Industrial Park, China

Our normally hazy skies have cleared and the past three days have been sunny, cool and beautiful. The following are some pictures I took while walking in our neighborhood.





Our Apartment Complex Grounds




Blue Skies Over Suzhou




The Clock Tower




Central Park: Entrance




Central Park: Touch




Central Park: Walk




Central Park: Shade

Street: Suzhou Industrial Park

The Amazing Race to Church

We spend a lot of time in taxis these days. We don't own cars, and don't really know how to get everywhere we want to go, so we depend on the taxi drivers to get us there. Because we are a family of five, we can't all fit in one taxi. The rule is no more than four, but since it's China, the word "rule" is, well, just kind of funny. Cars make left turns through the wrong side of the intersection, drive in the bicycle lanes, drive the wrong direction in the bicycle lanes, drive on the wrong side of the road, Don even saw a car driving on the sidewalk. So driving rules appear to be optional. Imagine a country full of people on bikes, give half of them cars, and watch what happens. Yes, they drive the cars like bikes.

But even without the "rule" we all don't fit into one cab, so if we are going somewhere by taxi, we have to take two. Taxis are cheap, it's usually only about 10RMB per trip, which is less than 2USD, and since it costs 2 RMB for the bus, sometimes taking a taxi is worth it for the convenience. For going to church, however, we have to go pretty far, so it's costing us around 25RMB per cab per direction, so that adds up to over $15. Despite our best efforts to be on time for the bus, we were running late this morning, so we took the taxis again. We did take the bus home, and the kind driver even slowed down enough that we could jump off at our stop before he sped off again.

Traveling by taxi is really kind of fun, though. Take today for instance. I hailed two cabs at once, John and I got in one, Donald and the girls in the other, and we were off! Our cab driver kept trying to pass Don and the girls, well he was trying to pass anyone, driving in two lanes at once to keep all options open, while not letting anyone pass him. The other driver was using similar techniques, so it was back and forth the whole way. Our driver took off on a side street for a short cut, getting us there way ahead of the other cab, but I had a coughing fit (my bronchitis) that let D, A and E catch up. So John and I had to run the last 20 yards or so to the apartment where we have church.

But we won. Stay tuned for next week's episode.

My doctor visit

Well, it's been a while, and as Don explained, part of the problem is our internet connection. We're pretty frustrated. Add to that the priority of the kids using the computers for their homework, and it seems like the only time we can be online is early in the morning. And that just isn't going to work for me.

But really I just haven't been feeling very well, basically since we got here. We arrived exhausted, and that hasn't abated yet. I've put in some 10 and 11 hour nights of sleep, which has helped, but I also keep getting sick, which has slowed me down. Now I've got some respiratory thing, and anything respiratory for me means it settles in and lingers. I usually keep a candy dish of cough drops on my desk at school, since I can't talk without coughing, and talking is a main component of my job.

So yesterday I went to the doctor, and, wow, it was so great and so easy. A doctor from a health clinic here in Suzhou comes to the school every Wednesday. So I showed up, she diagnosed brochitis, handed me a bunch of medications, and I was done. That was it! She spoke English very well (she's from Singapore) and I didn't have to go through the usual rigamarole of trying to get an appointment, leaving work, going to the pharmacy, etc. Now if I could only find cough drops I'd be fine. I'm just afraid they are flavored like pork.

IKEA Shanghai

We went to IKEA yesterday for some much needed supplies, including a wardrobe for our son, since the landlord apparently doesn't think we need storage for his clothes. It was kind of embarassing how much we bought, compared to the other teachers we went with, but then again, they don't have three kids.

So whether you love IKEA (I do because it reminds me of Sweden), or hate its mass-produced consumer climate, I'm just grateful they are here. Mainly because I could find bathmats without Hello Kitty on them. Thanks, IKEA!



It's a beautiful day in Shanghai!




These are people selling IKEA knockoff products in front of IKEA. It is China after all.




Crowded, but not as bad as other stores I've been to. I plan on getting some good "crowd" pictures tomorrow at a grocery store, since it's a holiday in China.




Enjoy yo meal! (look closely...)




Ahh, finally some meat we can identify!




Swedish crayfish. I haven't had these in years. I was the only one who liked these little guys. I love food that can look back.