The Monkey Kings 美猴王

The Monkey Kings and Queen went today to the Humble Administrator’s Garden (拙政园). We weren’t there long, as it started raining (as it does every day in Suzhou, it seems), but this was our day off and we were determined to see one of Suzhou 75,000 gardens. The administrator didn’t seem that humble.

The garden is very big and very beautiful. The walkways were all little, round stones. There are long, thin canals running through the garden, with walkways and bridges all around, some of which go down to the water. The canals are like long ponds, with big, fat goldfish and wide lily pads. The Monkey Queen said she used to use such lily pads as umbrellas when she was younger. Some of them could have covered her whole family!

The garden also has a small bonsai garden (彭景苑)–lots of little trees growing out of pots–an art gallery (like all Chinese tourist spots) and a lot of little pavilions. Though the price was high (70rmb ($10) each), and we cut our visit short for the rain, we felt it was worth it.