Gardens of Suzhou

This morning was devoted to a visit to two private (not imperial) gardens from the 14th and 16th centuries. The first -- The Garden of the Humble Administrator, was a lovely place, capitalizing on a refined art of landscaping to provide the illusion of more space than is really there and to make the most of the rocks, water, plants, and pavillions. At every turn, a different view was presented thanks to the techniques of screening, framing, and borrowing scenery.

The second garden was devoted more intensely to erosion-sculpted lake rocks, assembled, according to the guide, in the days before cement with "sticky rice and mud."

The morning was closed out with a visit to the "Number One Silk Factory."