Chinese Garden in Suzhou

So on my one week break for the founding of the People's Republic of China I went to Suzhou. Suzhou is about a 10 min train ride from Wuxi. It is known for its traditional Chinese Gardens. I took a class that focused on Traditional Chinese Gardens. My midterm in the class was to write a 10 page paper on the Chinese garden in Portland, Oregon. We had to write about how it followed the rules of Chinese gardens. I loved the garden and the class. Anyways when I first learned about the job I saw that there was a center in Wuxi near Suzhou. I really wanted to go to Wuxi so I could visit Suzhou. I was asked if I wanted to go to Xian or Wuxi. I was like of course Wuxi. I was so happy. So it was in the stars I would be in Wuxi. Anyways now I got a chance to go Suzhou. Here are some pictures I took and some pictures taken by the English I traveled with. 

These are all from the Humble Administor's Garden. It is the largest garden in Suzhou. The name could also be translated to the foolish politican's garden. It is a Unesco world heritage site. It was packed with Chinese people. All of China had this holiday off so they were being tourists too. This was also near the end of the of fall when the weather was still good. 

The above photo is the view you see when you go through the other side of this moongate. This lake and lilly pads were hidden by a wall. Then when you finally saw this it was breath taking. You thought the garden was so small then you go beyond the wall and are surprised by how much is still there. This is a common feature in Chinese gardens. It is called the hide and reveal. This feature at this very point was amazing. One of the important reasons why they hide and reveal parts of the garden is to make such a small space feel much bigger than it is. This way when the reveal comes you think the whole place is so big. It makes it feel more like a whole other expansive world. I can not describe to you the feeling and awe I had after stepping through the moongate to see the above scene. I think that it was even more moving because I knew the theory and history behind the design. This moment made coming to this garden and fighting the tourists worth every penny. You have to experience it yourself to really appreciate it. There are a few more photos of this amazing reveal after this. However none of these photos conveys the experience of the garden or that feeling  of discovering a whole other world.