Aspen last week and Suzhou this week…a study in contrasts…flying into Shanghai, Suzhou is a water city 2 hours away by car. I stayed at the Novotel Suzhou Industrial Park(SIP) which adjoins the convention centre where my meeting was held. Suzhou is famed for its private gardens and canals…Venice of the East!
typical canal scene in Pingjiang Road which is a touristy pedestrian walk beside a canal
I was brought to the enormous Suzhou Central Mall to get some stuff….but seriously, you can see malls like this in any major city centre in the world so give it a miss and visit the gardens and canals instead…
I had a free morning the next day and had identified the Taihu Wetland Park about 50km away from Suzhou as my main birding trip….unfortunately my escort came late and by the time we left Suzhou at 720am, the traffic was bad and we only arrived at the wetland park nearer to 9am…by which time it was very hot and the bird life thin…
the Taihu Wetland park…
Tranquil surrounds with a temple pagoda in the distance
pretty waterways
bridges and pavilions were everywhere and you could take a boat to cruise around
The ubiquitous light vented bulbul which is seen all over China
Light vented bulbuls
Egret in the forest
The whiskered terns were activeWhiskered ternpagoda temple in the background water lilies The birding was so thin that I resorted to shooting other things in the sky… Suzhou is of course known for its gardens and so aborting the trip to Taihu Wetland Park early, we headed back to town and visited the Lingering Garden… Liu Yuan…or literally ‘lingering garden’ tranquil corners were everywherepavilions in the gardenWe also made it to the rather larger Humble Administrator’s Garden…where the bonsais were magnificentthe rock formations were landscapedthe lotus leaves were enormousthe water and pavilions interactedserenity is a chinese gardenSo on the final morning before I departed Suzhou, I ventured out to the patch of green along either side of the curved Suzhou Avenue East, right next to the Novotel Suzhou SIP and took a walk wondering if I would see any birds at all….there was a well maintained lake…First bird of the morning was this insistent magpie calling out to his mateLong tailed magpiethere was a good view of the Suzhou art and cultural centre nearbyand in the early morning light by the Jinji lake, the city centre gleamedI walked along the short of the lakeWhite wagtails were activeWhite wagtailthe lotus flowers were blooming by the lakesideLittle Grebe on the waterLittle GrebesChinese Blackbirdand then a bright flash of colour landed in the treesa beautifully coloured long tailed shrikeand his matethese birds were near this statue next to the cafeand then in the distance…..a little bird hoppeda beautiful Hoopoe, one of my fav birds…so nice to see one in the industrial city of Suzhou! As disappointing was my outing to the Taihu Wetland Park the day before, this short walk along Suzhou avenue East made up for it… Suzhou, a contrast in development and nature.
The Natural Traveller 