[hkskyline]

The Twin Pagodas are 7 storeys tall each and are believed to date back a 1000 years. You can't climb the towers, so the admission fee is to only enjoy the small gardens that wrap around them. A huge wall makes them almost invisible from the outside.









My main objective for Suzhou was to visit the gardens. I arrived at the Temple of Mystery and pondered whether the 10 yuan admission would be good value for money since it was just one building that didn’t look particularly interesting or different from other Chinese temples. In the end, I opted to look from the outside and walked around the market street that surrounds the temple, which now sells mostly tourist gadgets.









The Lingering Garden also has rock formations to mimick artificial mountains, but on a much smaller scale than Lion’s Grove. Perhaps it was later in the afternoon and the tour groups have left Suzhou already, so I got some more peace and tranquility that rightfully belongs to any garden.







































With tired feet, I headed to the bus stop and searched for a route that would take me to the Blue Wave Pavilion further down the main thoroughfare. It was a quick trip but the 2 yuan was well spent. The Blue Wave Pavilion is the oldest existing garden in the city, dating back to the Song Dynasty some 900 years ago. The design is simple, with lots of greenery to shade the paths.