I think you will love both Hangzhou and Suzhou. Great places to refresh and recharge, especially after being overwhelmed by the sheer size, chaos and power of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai.

Both Hangzhou and Suzhou are historically famous for a number of reasons, one of which is that long ago in China it was a really big deal to be a government official (still is, I guess). The thought was, you needed to be smart to become one, you got to hob nob with the Emperor, and it would eventually lead to wealth, etc. But to become one, you had to study your butt off and do well on the imperial civil service examination (now, it’s be a successful party member).

To learn more on this exam and upward social mobility issue, read this post from the Eyes East blog (by Chris, an expat teaching in China) which also links to the Granite Studio blog (by Jeremiah who is a PhD student in history at UC Davis).

Then, once you served the Emperor as a government official, you retired to Hangzhou or Suzhou, to live out your remaining years in comfort. And when you arrived, particularly at Suzhou, because you were rich, you often built a beautiful garden you could lounge around in. In Suzhou we will take you to the Humble Administrator’s Garden (you will see the irony in the name when you see it) and the Lion Grove Garden. We won’t spend hours and hours at them, but you do need to see and experience them as a part of Chinese culture and history.

Ah, if only I could pass the imperial civil service exam ….