Humble Administrator's Garden

This past weekend our family pushed ourselves out of our normal Saturday routine (cartoons, jammies, and crafting at the dining room table) and we visited one of Suzhou's  most famous gardens.  The Humble Administrator's Garden was first built in the 16th century and it is now considered as a World Cultural Heritage Site.  It is one of China's four most famous gardens.

At the entrance:

I'll let you in on a secret, Chinese gardens are fantastic places to take young children.  Our girls love to run, jump, climb, and hide.  The gardens have water, fish, and other things children find fascinating.

Suzhou is known for its embroidery. The finest ones look beautiful from both sides and some are displayed between two pieces of glass so they can be enjoyed from the front and back.  EBean loved this creation with all the flowers.

Our girls enjoyed exploring and finding new "secret" paths.

This structure was built to look like a ship out on the water. 

And the tradition continues, we had more ice cream.  I feel as if we've eaten ice cream all across China.  One of the Chinese mothers told her son he couldn't get ice cream because it would make him sick.  It is fall now and therefore it must be "cold" out even though it was nearly 80 degrees Fahrenheit and we were all sweating.

We closed down the garden and headed to our favorite Chinese restaurant in Old Town, Yang Yang's.  The dishes we crave include the steamed dumplings, beef on hot rocks, ma po duo fu (spicy tofu), sweet and sour pork, and spicy green beans.  We tried a new dish this time and I have found a new favorite;pineapple rice served hot in half of a pineapple.  

How are your chop stick skills?

Those are peanuts, by the way!