I left the hotel in the morning after breakfast and hail one of the cabs stationed outside the hotel. The Garden is only a short distance away as it is within walking distance from the city centre. The cab driver tried to dissuade us from visiting the Garden as a large temple parade is ongoing there. "The place will be overcrowded with people", he said, and suggested that we visit the Big Buddha or the Lake. Well, I have been to the two other places, so I rejected his suggestion and proceed on. It cost 10RMB for the cab ride.
The temple entrance is really crowded with hordes of people. Here is a banner showing the Temple Parade (庙会).
On the contrary, I find this day to be perfect in visiting the Garden as they are having a festival at the same time. Here is a quick snap of the entrance to the Garden.
There are troops of performers getting ready for the parade. It showcase the various ethnic tribes and cultural performances of China.
Hordes of people line up the parade street. We have to duck through the forested grounds to get to a minimally populated area to catch a glimpse of the parade. Here is a scene of the crowd on the ground.
Just next to the parade is a bazaar which sells lots of food and other paraphernalias. There are some famous local brands in the bazaar.
We managed to get upclose to the parade at one of the section. The audience went wild when the dragon troupe appear.
Once the parade is over, everyone started going on own directions. We went to the top of the hill next to the parade. There is a pagoda at the top which offers a paranomic view of the city.
Down the hill, we pass through a series of traditional Jiangnan houses. The shades provided by the trees give it a unique and peaceful ambience to the houses.
At the base of the hill, there is a Dragon Light Cave. Thinking it is just an ordinary small cave, we went in to check it out.
But never did we expect it to be a long tunnel which burrows through the entire hill. It took us 15 minutes to clear the tunnel.
At the other end of the tunnel is where we can take the cable car to the highest point in Wuxi city - the Xi Shan (锡山).
Yea. That's me!
Here is a shot of the pagoda which we scaled a moment ago.
Here are a few shots of the Garden once we came back down from the mountain.
There is this one food stall with traditional drumming music being played and lots of smoke being blown out from its tent. They are actually preparing satay.
The main focal point of the parade. Previously we were unable to view it due to its high inclination and the massive crowd.
We left the Garden after 4 hours of tour. Outside the gardens are stalls selling jade products.
Here is a view of the Garden and Hill from the city bridge.
I visited the Garden again on the 7th May. Managed to catch a few explanations on some of the sights in the Garden. Below is the Second Spring as listed in the Art of Tea.
Next to the Second Spring is the Xi Hui Temple. Here is the entrance leading to the temple with the paths leading in being decorated with Buddhist flags.
The Golden Lotus bridge of the Temple, but it has been cordoned off for pedestrians use.
The main temple hall with the representations of the Buddha and his 18 Arahant disciples are depicted.
A large and quiet quadrangle where the halls of Arahant, Di Zhan Hall and the dining hall are located.
Just next to the temple is one of the traditional houses based on the Jiangnan architecture. It looks similar to those houses in Suzhou and Zhouzhuang.
