Jiangnan: Wuxi

By the time we checked into the hotel in Wuxi on 23 September 2014, it was already late evening and drizzling. Undeterred by the drizzle, with our umbrellas opened, we strolled the Pedestrian Walk which is just a stone throw from the hotel. The rows of shops on either side of the Walk were once residential houses. They are now converted to pubs, restaurants, fast food outlets, desserts outlets and souvenir shops catering almost solely to the huge number of tourists coming to Wuxi. Adjacent to one side of the row of shops is the canal, a reminder that this was once a water village of which Wuxi is famous for.

Wuxi is a name easy to remember. Wuxi in Chinese  "無锡" literally means "No Tin".

We entered an outlet that served only Taiwanese desserts. We chatted with the young man who served the customers and he turned out to be an undergraduate student studying in Jiangnan University.

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China became the world's largest trading nation overtaking USA in 2013. Four years earlier in 2009, China became the world's largest exporter of goods. It was reported in July 2014 that the top one percent of households in China control more than one third of the country's wealth while the bottom 25 percent control just one hundredth. Today, Communist China has risen to become an economic powerhouse of the world!

With wealth, the pursuit in life goes beyond the material things. Buddhism in China has been enjoying an unprecedented revival.

The Lingsan Buddhist temple built at the foot of Lingsan which was opened to the public in January 2009 is indeed a grand structure. It played host to the second World Buddhist Forum in 2009. It drew 1,700 participants from 50 countries spread over 5 continents.

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Lingsan Grand Buddha

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Nine dragons bathing Sakyamuni

Jiangnan: Lion Grove Garden, Suzhou

The Lion Grove Garden (獅子林園) in Pingjiang District, Suzhou was first built in 1342 during the Yuang Dynasty.  This garden is famous for the large amount of rocks arranged in labyrinthine grotto and artificial hill. The name of the garden is derived from the shape of some of the rocks, which are said to resemble lion. 

Emperor Qianglong of the Ching Dynasty visited Ziangnan seven times. In 1765, he visited this Rock Garden and left a tablet with the words "True Charm" (真趣) personally written by him as a gift. It was said that he initially wrote three Chinese characters (真有趣) translated as "Very Interesting", but the character "有" was slightly untidy. One official noted this and pleaded to the Emperor to be "awarded" the character "有". The Emperor too observed the untidy handwriting and gladly "offered" the character to him. As a result, only two characters remained: 真趣.

The rock at the rear resembles a lion while the rock at the front a crab.

Jiangnan: Taihu Hairy Crabs

The golden hairy crabs, found in some of the fresh water lakes around Yangze River have been highly promoted by the Chinese as one of the must-eat delicacies in Jiangnan. This is an over-statement to someone who has tasted our Sabah mud crabs.

We cook our mud crabs in many ways - chilly crabs, peppered crabs, sweet & sour crabs, steamed crabs....... The Chinese only recommend eating the hairy crabs one way - steamed hairy crabs. Rather boring!

We had to pay RMB180 to eat a pair of these hairy crabs in a restaurant in Suzhou.

Jiangnan: Hanshan Temple, Suzhou

Hanshan Temple in Suzhou would have been just one of the thousand of "unknown" Buddhist temples in China if not because of a poem written during the Tang Dynasty. This poem which was written by Zhang Zi when he was travelled and stopped in this town. Soon after, this poem propelled this little known place or more specifically the Hanshan Temple to perpetual fame.

Hanshan Temple was believed to have been built at around early 500 AD in Fengqiao (Translated as Maple Bridge), about 5 Km west of old Suzhou. The temple obtained its name, the Hanshan Temple after a monk called Han Shan became the abbot at around the first quarter of 600 AD.

The poem describes the dejected and melancholy feeling of  a traveler who stopped by Fengqiao and spent the night in a boat. The key phrase is a description of his hearing of the ringing of the bell from Hanshan Temple.

The ringing of the bell at Hanshan Temple on the eve of Chinese New Year is now a major pilgrimage and tourism event.

The visit to this temple did bring back memory of studying this poem during my days at the secondary school, "楓橋夜泊" translated as " A Night Mooring by Maple Bridge" or "The Midnight Bells".

月落烏啼霜滿天。

江楓漁火對愁眠。

姑蘇城外寒山寺，

夜半鐘聲到客船。

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In China, there is a Pedestrian Walk nearly in every city. Shops lined along the side of the Walk. They cater for visitors who want to shop, eat and drink. In Suzhou, we were taken to the Pedestrian Walk called the Guan Qian Street (观前街).

Jiangnan: Xixi National Wetland Park, Hangzhou

Hangzhou is not just attracting visitors with its natural beauty and scenic splendour. It also takes advantage of its nature heritage to promote tourism that allows visitors to touch base with their farm and fishing ground.

Xixi National Wetland Park at the west of Hangzhou which spreads over 2,800 acres is crisscrossed with six water courses. It was said that some of the water courses were manually dug so as to link up the whole wetland system.

For lunch, visitors are taken to the farm to plunk a variety of vegetables for cooking by the chefs in the nearby restaurant. Visitors are also taken to fishing trip in the wetland to witness live catch by the fishermen.

Ever since China abandoned communism and moved toward capitalism, it has faced serious migration of people from the rural farmland to the urban centre. With the government's emphasis  in tourism, keeping these fishermen to continue their way of lives and simultaneously complimenting tourism is one way of stemming such trend.

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Fishing in the wetland.

Fish caught are prepared in different ways! Unfortunately, we did not find them palatable.

Jiangnan: Hangzhou Xihu

West Lake or Xihu comes to mind whenever Hangzhou is mentioned. Throughout history, poets and artists have immortalized the beauty of Xihu and Hangzhou in poems and paintings. Chinese are quick to boast of the natural beauty and scenic splendor of Hangzhou with the often-quoted phrase of "Heaven on Earth".

Cruise in Xihu

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Impression Xihu or Impression West Lake is a grand open-air show of light, music, dance and theatrics. This show is directed by Zhang Yimou and is staged entirely upon one part of the West Lake. Its story line is a mixture of folklore and myths of Hangzhou.