What I learned while on Holiday: Suzhou (Day 2)

On the second day, the first place we visited was the Garden of the Fishing Net Master. The garden got its name after a fisherman who saved the life of a merchant's son by throwing his nets into the river and dragging the boy to shore.

The house, which was a mansion, was typical of Ming Dynasty decor -- complete with a huge water garden



But the one event that drove the tour to a dead stop was this kid:


He was such a little ham, blowing kisses to everyone and waving. It was clear that his grandfather doted on the little guy.

After that, we hit the silk factory for some shopping. This was where Jeff and I purchased two silk quilts for our house. The quilts have been much nicer than the down ones we used in the past. Jeff tends to heat up like a nuclear reactor at night, while I get cold quickly and easily. The beauty of the silk quilts is that they breathe quite nicely and don't weigh either of us down. Plus, the price for two of them was comparable to one down quilt.

We then took a canal boat ride around Suzhou. Before there were roadways in and out of the city, most people took the canals to travel and ship goods.



While most people use the streets now to travel, it's clear that the canals were a major form of transportation in the past -- stairs led up to the streets from the water's edge.