欢迎 （Huānyíng) ! I’m delighted you are following along with us as we tour China, city by city. We recently returned from a three-week family holiday in China. This is the eighth of ten posts whereby I introduce you to the culture of China through our eyes. Suzhou is a city of gardens, canals, and silk. Come along and I’ll share a few of our trip highlights.
The new high-speed rail system linking Shanghai to Suzhou now makes the trip to Suzhou so doable it’s now a day trip. At just under an hour, we arrived in the early morning and had the whole day to explore and still get back to Shanghai by dinner time. Suzhou is one of China’s most famous tourist destinations for domestic and foreign visitors alike.
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While visiting Suzhou’s UNESCO-listed gardens may not at first seem like a fun kids’ activity, especially if your kids are as active as Buddy, there’s one garden you won’t want to miss, the Humble Administrator’s Garden. While adults can enjoy the aspects of a pristine classical Chinese garden, kids can explore, climb and play. The rockeries are especially fun for kids. They can climb up and through them – many are cave-like or have steps up to the top. You’ll have plenty of time to take the photos you want and you’ll probably end up having to drag your kids away! We did. 🙂
The Silk Road
For me, our excursion to Suzhou was one of the highlights of our holiday in China. This is because I have been fascinated with insects my entire life – I had even considered minoring in entomology when I was at the university. The silk factory in Suzhou took us away from the usual tourist areas and we even began to wonder how far we’d have to travel (we went by taxi and the driver, in retrospect, seemed to meander all over the city). The factory tour, however, was very interesting and there was no pressure to purchase anything. I’m kicking myself for not bringing home a silk blanket, however. Next time!
Silk fabric was first developed in ancient China; legend gives credit for developing silk to a Chinese empress, Leizu, who discovered silkworms while having a midday tea, and a cocoon fell in her tea. Upon her discovery, she persuaded her husband to give her a grove of mulberry trees, where she could domesticate the worms that made these cocoons. Leizu is also attributed with inventing the silk reel, which joins fine filaments into a thread strong enough for weaving and with inventing the first silk loom.
Silks were originally reserved for the Emperors of China for their own use and gifts to others, but spread gradually through Chinese culture and trade both geographically and socially, and then to many regions of Asia. The first evidence of the silk trade is the finding of silk in the hair of an Egyptian mummy of the 21st dynasty, c.1070 BC. The silk trade reached as far as the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa. This trade was so extensive that the major set of trade routes between Europe and Asia came to be known as the Silk Road.
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To learn more about the Silk Road, you may be interested in the following books for children:
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To learn more about insects, check out my Introductory Entomology unit study I developed earlier this year. It is full of engaging, hands-on activities and collaborative projects for the budding entomologist. There are over 20 printable notebooking pages and handouts, links to exclusive video lessons, and illustrated instructions for constructing your own collection equipment.
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We’re off to Yangshou tomorrow – certainly a highlight of our holiday for all of us. Growing up in a rural area, it is no wonder that the dramatic scenery of the Karst Mountains and the confluence of the rivers here captivated our hearts.
This post is part of the iHomeschool Network’s Autumn Hopscotch, a 10 day series of posts by over 40 different homeschool bloggers. You can visit the hopscotch home page at iHN for ideas and inspiration in topics like Geek Projects: Narnia, Middle Earth, Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Beyond.
All 10 days of Discovering China will be linked to one landing page. Bookmark it for reference!
YuYuan
Night Cruise on Huangu River
Construction was started in 713, led by a Chinese monk named Haitong. He hoped that the Buddha would calm the turbulent waters that plagued the shipping vessels traveling down the river. When funding for the project was threatened, he is said to have gouged out his own eyes to show his piety and sincerity. Apparently the massive construction resulted in so much stone being removed from the cliff face and deposited into the river below that the currents were indeed altered by the statue, making the waters safe for passing ships.
There was a moderately large crowd visiting on the day we visited; we walked down to the feet among them. Then we walked back up the other side – to the grumbling of the kiddos who were both tired of the stairs and getting hungry. There’s no food to be found in the park so we departed.
I have created a couple of notebooking pages to correspond with today’s post. The first is a list of 
Panda Breeding Center
by John Seidensticker and another by the same title, 
, by Gail Gibbons.
A simmering metal pot of stock is placed at the center of the dining table; while kept simmering, ingredients are placed into the pot and are cooked at the table. It can be eaten bland to very spicy, depending on how much spice has been put in the stock. We selected both varieties as I like it spicy but the kids do not.
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or other stainless steel cooking pot. The divider isn’t necessary unless you want two different broths. An 
is also recommended so that everyone can take part and enjoy the meal in comfort around the table.
Terra Cotta Warriors
To discover the terracotta soldiers, you can go on an amazing expedition to Mount Li, the burial mound of China’s first emperor, from the comfort of your home. With this fun, hands-on activity kit – 
– kids can learn about his still unopened tomb and the world famous terracotta army, as they excavate the 10-inch reproduction of a 2,200 yearly-old warrior. We enjoyed this activity ourselves some time ago and the kids loved it!
Tian’anmen Square
Tian’anmen Gate – Tian’anmen Gate, also called the “Gate of Heavenly Peace” is the southern entrance to the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace). The gate has five rounded arch doorways, and seven Golden Water Bridges – the central bridge was used by the Ming and Qing emperors only, the other bridges were for royalty and court officials. From the wide tower, emperors read out proclamations, and this is spot where Mao stood in 1949 and declared a new China. Step through the Tiananmen Gate (just like the emperors), and you’ll enter the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City
Home to 24 emperors; the entire complex consists of 8,706 rooms in which an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people lived—including 3,000 eunuchs, as well as maids and concubines—all within 170 acres surrounded by a moat. Inside, the Imperial Palace (also called the Palace Museum) is a huge walled complex, surrounded by a moat. There’s two major areas – the outer courtyards with three great halls of state, and inner courtyards with imperial residences for the emperor and his entourage, plus the gardens. The halls have been restored to show what life what like under the emperors and their living quarters. Galleries display exquisite artwork of bronze, ceramic, jade, clocks, armor and weaponry, and precious treasures and paintings.