Kyoko and I decided to visit China during the Golden Week holiday of 2011. It was the first time for me to visit China. Kyoko has been there many times.
We chose to visit the area around Shanghai. The first place we went was Suzhou, which is famous for canals, or small waterways, that run through the city. People travel around in small boats, similar to the gondolas of Venice, Italy. Suzhou is also a nice place to visit if one likes gardens. Many of these gardens are World Heritage Sites.
The second place we visited was the lake area of Hanzhou. There are many old Chinese stories and legends that are set in this lovely area. With our friends, Julia and John, we bicycled around the lake, watched colorful sunsets, went to many old tea houses, and went shopping in the historic shopping area. We also ate a lot of delicious food, of course.
