The city of Wuxi is to the north of Suzhou, along the huge Lake Tai, or Taihu 太湖, the “grand lake”.

Like Suzhou, Wuxi has several traditional Chinese gardens, with the added bonus of being along the lake front. The Liyuan gardens (really, more of a park) had several ponds and pavilions:

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Musicians were performing traditional Chinese music in this pavilion, one of four on a large pond representing the seasons:

The garden is one the shore of Lake Tai, and just beyond the ponds and pavilions are views of the lake:

< One can see another contrast of old and new, with the traditional architecture of the waterfront restaurant in the foreground and the sleek and modern bridge in the background. Compared to the Liyuan garden, Turtlehead Garden was more “natural”, with wooded hills and views of the lake, including this iconic spot:

The garden did include the traditional “planned” elements, such as ponds filled with koi and rockeries, but a short walk leads one to far more natural scenery such as wooded hills overlooking the lake.

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I was fascinated by this one abandoned building in an overgrown wooded area:
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I was able to walk around it and get glimpses from different sides, but could not get any closer.

Feeding time for the koi:

I suspect it’s always feeding time for the koi, especially when there are children around.

Of course, at this point it was also feeding time for us, before making the trip to the giant Liang Shan Buddha.