Panmen Gate

During the potluck today we asked our branch president, who has been here for 9 or so years, what is a must see in Suzhou.  He told us of his favorite place that I had actually not seen on TripAdvisor!  But, you should always follow the counsel of your Branch President, and knowing that we headed towards Panmen Gate after the Easter festivities concluded.  And we are sure glad that we did!

We didn't realize how big the scenic area would be!  We headed right towards the gate to begin with.  It was very grand and beautiful!

I loved the snowball bushes that were in front of it.  My mom had a snowball bush in our yard, and growing up they would always bloom right around my birthday.  They are a little bit early here, but they still made me think about my home and brought back memories of beautiful spring days as a kid!

After checking out the gate for a little bit, including walking on top of it, we headed towards the water for a little boat ride.

It was so peaceful!  The guy rowing the boat was in traditional clothes and sang us some traditional songs.  We were technically only supposed to get one free song, but he sang more for us for free because he "loves performing"!  It was so great having Andrew to translate for us, because then we get know just how nice some people are.

The guide also let Bailey row the boat!

After the boat ride we took some time to explore the garden.

I did not mean to make it look like she has a little hat.

We spent a lot of time feeding the fish bread from our backpacks, trying to get the litle pieces into certain fishes mouths.  Andrew told us about why koi are special.  According to legend, they turn into dragons!

My favorite thing about the garden was the fact that it wasn't busy.  We had the loveliest time, though there were some people it was still as if we had the park to ourselves!  I loved being there, and I especially loved being there with such amazing friends.  I can't believe I didn't know these people a few months ago - now I can't imagine life without them!