Chapter 2
Yes, we get our stupid daily info-merical again. Our next destination is a company that makes teapots. Ok, sounds pretty dull and yea; the concept is rather dull for an idea over 1000 years old. Anyway, the sales pictch is abourt a new type of teapot which corrects a lot of known problems with tea pots.
a) He shows us that the spout does not dribble. I am sure that is not a new innovation but I suppose they have come a few things all these years. Very good for serving many cups of tea.
b) They also made the top have an air hole on the top of it so you can plug up a hole in the the top of the lid with your thumb/finger in order to stop the flow of the watter. Wow it has been over 2000 years since Anthordocartis from ancient Greece had that figured that out. Also good for pouring many servings of tea without spilling tea when between cups.
c) The pot is strong enough that you could stand on it. And that the cups are strong enough to clang together and not chip or crack.
Well, sounds great and all, but I ain't sold on buying such crap for my tea.
We move on to lunch.
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Beansprouts with green peppers. Very good, not too salty, still very crisp.
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Chicken with cabbage in a stirfry.
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Fish, gross tasting as usual, it isn't fresh, and it tastes like sewage.
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Chicken with greenn peppers. I think this one tastes better than the one with cabbage.
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The crappy tofu. Still doesn't taste any better after served it for the last few meals.
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Scrambled eggs and green pepper. Pretty boring. They could have at least added a few chunks of meat or peas and made it egg fu yung, but they're cheap.
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Fillets of fish. Still had the bones in it and still didn't taste right.
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A rather plain noodle soup with some leak in it.
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Tomato and Egg soup. Real plain.
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Famous Wuxi City Food called Mianjin, which is gluten (flour with the starch removed). This variation has pork in it. It is a little sticky and slimy and a bit on the tasteless side because all you can taste is pork.
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Here is the restaurant we ate at. It is pretty much in the middle of industrial farm land and it only exists to serve tour groups passing by on highway.
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We head out back on to the road with our bus. The next destination is Shizilin (Lion Forest Grove). This is located about 2 hours away from Wuxi City in Suzhou City on Yuanlin Road. It gets name from some rocks that look like Lions and the garden dates back to the year 1350, and it is the most famous of four such gardens (Canglangta, Liuyuan, and Zhuozhengyuan are the other three).
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We are at the front of the gates.
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Me at the entrance to the Ancestrial hall.
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In the front a plaque written by Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty in 1765, who visited six times.
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Pat the lucky dragon on the head.
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Hall of Joyous Feasts
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Hall of the Guests
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Hall of the Guests
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Room Of Sleeping In the Clouds
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Bridge at the Middle of the lake
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Us on the bridge.
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Close to the waterfall pavillion.
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In the courtyard.
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Going through the caves. They are limestone from Taihu Lake.
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Us on the bridge. The rocks were suppose to be various Lion poses but erosion takes taken its toll.
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The King of Smut '95 in the "Kingdom of Rockery"
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In the lagoon. I am happy that I had my Team Canada leather gloves because that made all the rock climbing easier.
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An opening in the rocks.
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Inside the stone maze, a smll water area.
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Hanshan Temple, named after a monk durin the Tang Dynasty.
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People from the ground throw money up on to this roof. If it holds you are lucky, many times it just rolls right back off.
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We at at the top of the Hashan Temple.
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Here is a pavillon right next to the Hashan Temple. Note man on the left side of this picture was really slow. Ami shouted at him twice. He was throwing money on the roof from his spot. If I had small change I would haved thrown it at him.
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We are at the Bell Tower. It is mentioned in Zhangji's famous poem. Buddhist legend says there is 108 kinds of annoyances in a year and each bell tolling will cure each one.
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The Bell inside the tower.
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An opening in the rocks.
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Inside the stone maze, a smll water area.
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Hanshan Temple, named after a monk durin the Tang Dynasty.
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People from the ground throw money up on to this roof. If it holds you are lucky, many times it just rolls right back off.
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The rock near the exit. The garden was built 1342 during he Yuan Dynasty by Monk Tianru and the Zen Buddhists.
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Here is a bell by the rock and note the Buddhists on the left.
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