(Written by a Chinese student who will begin his studies at the University of Saskatchewan in the fall)

          "Don't worry about us", I shouted with a smile to my grandparents, "We'll be okay!"

          With our baggage and what we hoped would be enough money, I strode out of the door with my younger brother headed for the bus station.  It was to be the first trip we'd make unescorted, as I'd recently been judged to be an adult and capable of being a leader.  During our three-day trip, we were going to visit three areas in the eastern part of China.              

          Our first destination after boarding the coach was Suzhou, an ancient city in the semitropical monsoon province of Jiang Su, and we were expecting rain and high temperatures, as we were visiting during the rainy season that extends from June to August.

          Suzhou is as old as Beijing and dates back to the 470's BC, the age of heroes.  According to Chinese history, two men named Fu Chai and Gou Jian ruled two small kingdoms called Wu and Yue.  They waged wars against each other to gain dominance and eventually Fu Chai was defeated.  Though his area included Suzhou, the city's brilliance never faded.

          A map of Suzhou was available upon arrival, and we spent time reviewing all the attractions we could visit.  Our eventual choices were Tiger Hill, Maple Bridge, and the Temple of Hanshan.

          We enjoyed the soft touch of rain as we walked under the trees on a footpath beside a big river, and had to look carefully for the ancient structures as they were hidden behind trees.  It was the brief glimpse of a roof or a wall from time to time that told us they were there.

          A bus station was at the end of the footpath, and to our surprise we noted that it - like the ancient buildings we'd just seen - was in the classic style.  It had been built in modern times in the form of a summerhouse.  We enjoyed looking around and were pleased to discover that there would soon be a bus to Tiger Hill.

          On our way there, we read a brochure describing Fu Chai's ancient kingdom of Wu.  The ancients claim that after the funeral of the king's father, a white tiger climbed the hill and seemed to be guarding the tomb.  That event gave the hill its name. 

          A famous poet named Su Shi has written that it would be a shame for anyone to visit Suzhou without going to Tiger Hill, and we were in agreement as we entered the gae and started down a road cut obliquely in the hill.  After crossing a bridge over a swiftly flowing stream, we entered a thick, green forest.

          Footpaths crisscrossed through the forest, and as we walked along we were conscious that the rain had washed the leaves of the trees.  Pools of water reflected like twinkling stars the light that came through the leaves, and suddenly we found ourselves in a large planting of bamboo.

          Within it, we could hear the sounds of the stream and enjoyed the fresh air that had been cleansed by lance-like plants.

          We soon arrived at the Sword Pool.  Forty-five meters in length and 6 meters deep it's the tomb of Fu Chai's father, king He Lu.  In the more than two thousand years since it was created between two upright cliffs, it has never dried up.

          It is called Sword Pool because legend has it that He Lu collected "holy" swords throughout his life, and when he died his son Fu Chai buried them with his father and constructed a pool above them to prevent thievery by ghouls.  On one occasion in the past, archeologists removed the water from the pool and found the entrance to the tomb.  After that, however, it was forbidden to dig deeply there again in order to protect the tomb and preserve the scenery.  The existence of the holy swords and the tomb has become one of China's mysteries.  Also unknown are where the bodies are of the 1000 workers who built the pool and were then executed.

          The pool water was clean, and we saw many goldfish.  Though it was a warm day, the cliffs were covered in ice and on the side of one of them "Sword Pool" had been carved in Chinese.

          The photograph below shows the view above the cliffs.  We had expected to see the king's tomb, and that's the structure on the right.  We thought at first that we were looking at a pedestal on the left, but learned that it represented the hilt of a spectacularly large sword.  Viewers were to imagine that the blade was buried deep in the ground.

           We climbed the stairs that connect the stone bridge that connects the two cliffs and got a view of the famous Tiger Hill pagoda through the trees.  Built in the N. Song dynasty (961-959BC) it is 47.5 meters high and the oldest pagoda in Suzhou.  It leans to one side with a pitch of 3.5 degrees so it is known as Suzhou's Leaning Tower.  It hasn't been perfectly perpendicular for more than 400 years.  Many years ago, it was struck by lightening and many of its treasures revealed.  Though originally a wooden structure it has been reconstructed of brick

          .

          We felt like dwarfs as we stood next to the pagoda.  When we circled it, eight sides were counted so it's an octohedron.  I was surprised when we came to a wooden door that had been painted crimson.  No one is permitted to enter the pagoda nowadays.  It's kept airtight so that it won't be disturbed by wind, and I wondered how one could breathe, if the building were entered.

          We found another way to go down the stairs and thought we were leaving Tiger Hill when suddenly a large garden floated before our eyes.  Ropes had been crisscrossed between the two cliffs, and bonsai plants were growing in the various sections.  Just below that garden, we found a white corridor where there was an exhibition of calligraphy.  Most of it described the beauty of the gardens.

          As we continued walking down the stairs, we knew that we were about to leave Tiger Hill, but it wouldn't be the end of our adventure.  There were still many other sights waiting for us.

          We heard quite a commotion as we left Tiger Hill, and were surprised to come upon a huge market.  It was located just outside the gate so that travelers wouldn't miss it, and we immediately decided to investigate.   

          Booths had been constructed at random, and as we strolled among them we found a craft display that really caught my interest.  Most of the things for sale were very delicate and partly covered with silk.  I liked the looks of a mirror that folded up into a shell covered in golden silk, and I held it up to the clerk and said, "How much are you asking?"

          "5 Yuan", he replied enthusiastically.

          "Hmmm...What about 10 Yuan for three of them?  That would be the most I could pay."

          "Well, if you like, 10 Yuan is all right."  He nodded with a smile and  handed them to me.  Then he turned to my brother and asked, "What can I do for you?"

          "I want this Chinese fan.  How much is it?"  My brother was pointing at one made of bamboo.

         “Your brother has good taste”, the man answered as he picked it up.  “It’s very delicate, and the words on the front of it tell me it’s handmade. Twenty yuan is my best price.”  He handed it back to my brother.

          “Come on…15 yuan…please”.  My brother was pleading.

          “No!” The owner was inflexible. He insisted on 20 yuan and held out his hand to take it back.

          “Wait just a minute”, I said – getting myself involved - “I’ll add 10 yuan to the 15, if you include a straw hat with the fan.”

          “Okay”, said the man

          We had gotten both of them for 25 yuan.

          The salesman seemed happy, and I told him we wanted to visit the area known as Maple Bridge so that we could see not only the bridge but the Temple of Hanshan.  He directed us to the #1 bus and said warmly, “It will take you directly where you want to go.”

          “Thanks!”

          With the straw hat on my head, we got on the bus, and soon arrived.  I had wanted to visit that area since reading a poem by Zhang Ji of the Tang Dynasty in which he described a night scene from a boat there. He had referred to the crowing of birds under a falling moon and fishermen worriedly lighting their lamps as they stopped their boats on the water that flows under the Maple Bridge.  It’s not far from Suzhou and a temple named Hanshan.  On the night that he wrote, the wind had carried the sound of bells at midnight from the temple to a boat in which he sat.

          After writing the poem, his mood had been very low. He blamed bad luck on his failure to pass an imperial examination after having studied for many long years, and in the poem he implied that the sadness he felt was much like that of fishermen. His words became so famous that Maple Bridge because the best known sight in Suzhou.

          We were still recalling the poem when we got off the bus and saw the many branches of the Jinghang canal.  That waterway provides an important route for the shipment of goods, and as we walked we came upon traditional boats that we could have used to ride up the canal, but we were also conscious of the heavily loaded boats that cruised along and the air was filled with their hooting as they signaled to each other.

          We left the canal and as we walked along one of the branches, we finally got a glimpse of a bridge with stone arches that had “Feng Ziao” carved on one side.  Although it was very small, it was apparent that we had found the bridge we were looking for.

          As we moved toward it, someone called out, "Zhang Ji is here".  We searched for the origin of the voice and were amazed to see a man standing by a large bronze statue that had to be Zhang Ji.  Just behind was a boat like the one he had described in his poem.

          We took a photo and walked onto the bridge.  As I stared at the bronze statue just a few meters away, I had a strong feeling that I could hear Zhang Ji reciting his "Fen Qiao Ye Bo".  What a strange sensation. 

                             Maple Bridge Night Mooring

                Moon set, crow cry, frost fill sky,

                River maples, fisherman light, oppose anxious sleep,

    Suzhou city outside, Cold Mountain temple,

    Night-middle bell sound to visitor boat.

I shook my head to bring myself back into the present, and as I shook my head to bring myself back into the present, I looked around, and saw a temple.  It had to be theTemple of Hanshan, a place that we would visit next.

        The Temple of Hanshan was built hundreds of years before the poet Zhang Ji visited it, but it was through his poetry that it is famous today. Constructed during the Nan dynasty, it was given the name Miao Pu Ming Pagoda Temple, and we learned that the name Han Shan, by which it is known today, came from the name of an abbot who managed the temple during the Tang dynasty. Han Shan means “Cold Mountain” so many people use the term “Cold Mountain Temple”. The abbot always helped others, was widely known for his kindness, and therefore his name was given to the temple in remembrance.

            Han Shan – hermit and poet of Tang Dynasty (618-906) 

                                   Painted by Yen Hui (1280-1368)

        Though fires have damaged the temple through the years, it has always been reconstructed – most recently during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911). It is fortunate that the style of the temple has always been retained.

        As we stood at the front of the temple, we could read three large words written in Chinese on a yellow wall – Han Shan Temple. I’ve found that most of the Chinese Buddhist temples are yellow though I don’t understand the reason.

          Upon entering the building, we saw a large bronze ball on our right, and I realized that I had found the source of the bell ringing that Zhang Ji had heard from his boat in his poem “Mooring to the Maple Bridge at Night”.

          It is a local custom for people to get together here to listen to the sound of the bell when it is rung 108 times on New Year’s Eve in the belief that it will rid everyone of their troubles and bring luck and happiness in the coming year. It was a shame that we won’t be here that day and a disappointment to learn that the original bell had disappeared many years ago and replaced in 1904.

        The temple is situated on approximately three acres, is in the style of the Qing Dynasty, and consists of the Grand Prayer Hall, the Sutra-Collection Building, Bell Tower, Pengjiang Pavilion, and Tablets Corridor that contains a tablet on which the famous poem has been inscribed as well as poems by famous intellectuals.

                                   The Bell Tower

        We were especially interested in the temple’s Da Xiong Bao Dian, the most important room in the building. The translation is as follows: Da (including everything), Xiong (vanquishing and killing dragons), Bao (refers to the 3 treasures of Buddhism – the Buddha, the Buddhist doctrines, and the Buddhist monks, and Dian (a palace).

          With great curiosity, we stepped into the hall and found three large statues of Buddha sitting on a lotus seat, and I was truly in awe as I stood there looking at them. It was interesting to learn that the temple is still an important center for Buddhist activities.

        We left the temple by a back door and entered a beautiful garden with pools. Leaning over a banister while looking into the pool I was amazed to see many tortoises swimming freely. How free they seemed to be.

        “Hey, there’s a pagoda!” shouted my brother, and I asked where it was.

        “Over there!” he said pointing at a cuspate garret.       

        “Oh, yes! I see it!  Let’s get going.”

        We had found the Miao Pu Ming pagoda, the original name of the temple having been transferred to it. Though it was constructed in 1995, it’s in the Tang Style and is five stories high, a total of about 42 meters. We walked upstairs to reach the top, and from the balcony could see the temple we had just left and the Maple Bridge. We also saw the rolling waters of the Jing Hang canal, the longest ancient man-made canal in the world and had heard the temple’s bell.

        It had been a wonderful afternoon, but it was time to leave Suzhou. Our trip, however, wasn’t finished. We’d be going to Zhou Zhuang and Shanghai soon.