Hangzhou, Xitang, Suzhou and Shanghai

We had an extra day off school for the May Day holiday and took the opportunity to visit several beautiful cities near Shanghai. 

The first city was Hangzhou with a visit to the beautiful Hupao Spring Park. 

We took a boat ride on the West Lake. It is pictured on the back of the 1 Yuan note. 6 Yuan are equal to $1.00

This was taken on a canal in Xitang. We had a nice ride on the canal in one of their traditional boats. 

Our next stop was in Suzhou. It is called the Venice of China.  Ancient canals were built for trade and travel. There are still stretches of it in use. 

We took a very relaxing ride up the canal. People always wave and take pictures of us. They make us feel very special in China.

The next day we toured the 10th century Humble Administrator's Garden. 

We especially liked all of the natural rock sculptures in the park. They were dug up from the bottom of the Tai Hu Lake. 

We bought this one as a souvenir.  

More interesting rock sculptures with our guide Momo in the window. 

This was taken in Tiger Hill, another park in Suzhou.  In the background is a leaning pagoda. It was built in 961 AD. 

We ended our tour with a short shopping trip to the "Fake Market" in Shanghai and then back to Guangzhou.