Suzhou gardens

The part of China that includes Suzhou and Hangzhou, sometimes referred to simply as Su-Hang, is famous in China for its beauty. Suzhou is sometimes called "The Venice of China" because of its many canals and lakes, and it is also known for its beautiful gardens, many of which are world heritage sites. Here is a photo of a canal we crossed on the way to one of the gardens.
The Humble Administrator's Garden is known as the most beautiful garden in south China. It includes several lakes and canals, as well as several buildings. In the early summer season, there are many lotus plants in the lakes and in large ceramic pots on the grounds. The photo shows a typical view in the garden.
Nearby is the Lion Grove Garden, a smaller garden that has smaller vistas and more buildings but is still quite lovely. This garden looks like it was part of the living areas of a home, and some of the buildings are set up for things like receiving guests. There is one lake in the garden, and the photo shows that and the fanciful stone structures that are found in all the gardens.
A third garden we visited was smaller and was near the east city moat (yes, moat -- a river flows around all four sides of the old city of Suzhou.) The Garden of a Couple is even more of a garden with a residence, and it had even more of the feel of a home. The photo is of one of the garden's main features -- an artificial "mountain" in one of the courtyards. Overall the garden is said to have the feel of the mountains.