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[theyellowhobbit]

China2

Comments

[leftyjew.livejournal.com]

上有天堂，下有苏杭 － Shang You Tian Tang Xia You Su Hang
The world above has the heavenly palace, the world below has Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Thank you for the photos!

But i should have used this icon

[leftyjew.livejournal.com]

oh regrets...

[sen-ichi-rei.livejournal.com]

I heard the saying while I was in China. I would agree with Hangzhou, but I didn't think Suzhou was so pretty. Maybe it was nicer back when the saying was invented.

[sen-ichi-rei.livejournal.com]

and you're welcome!

[leftyjew.livejournal.com]

I agree but i think it has to do with aesthetic. Suzhou and Hangzhou are two very different aesthetics.
Suzhou's gardens are a very particular style of art that ye olde Chinese high culture valued (and still values). It's like French or British gardens, or architecture - very human and very culturally resonant.
Hangzhou is just naturally beautiful and you don't need any education or cultural context to understand natural beauty.

[sen-ichi-rei.livejournal.com]

The garden we went to in Suzhou was beautiful, but I guess I mean the city as a whole. The area on the canals was really run down. And the air in Hangzhou was nicer and easier to breathe. So more than culture, I think it's that Hangzhou is naturally beautiful while Suzhou needs human intervention to make it beautiful.

[boroparkpyro.livejournal.com]

你的媽媽！