Tonight Mother brought out some photos of a small town in China called Suzhou. Mother always attempted to avoid the big cities and tourist areas like Hong Kong or Beijing and instead search for the hidden jewels in her travels.

Apparently most of the country’s world-famous silks come from this area. She reminisced fondly about visiting a silk factory, and how interesting it was to watch the workers carefully unravel the silkworm’s cocoon.

Then she showed me a photograph of a summer garden estate. She said that this estate belonged to a famous politician of ancient times. The architecture was stunning, but I was entranced by the water. The numerous water features were enclosed with walkways and covered sitting areas. Every outdoor portion of the estate was built to either cross over or loop around the water. Any trip outside would result in a soothing trip past a man-made lake.

Every decoration or sculpture has a mythological reason for existing. Nothing is built “just because”. Fascinating!