Dragon door
(A courtyard off Siquan jie: Suzhou, China)
Suzhou, being home to eight million people at the last count, is a constant source of diversion. Yesterday, my friend Susan and I wandered around one of the major streets in the older pat of the city. The shops that line these streets can fade from tiny clothing caves to more open glass affairs with wintry items draped across models. Then as suddenly as summer rain, the shops seem to be selling reams of adhesive vinyl for signage or as yesterday, we tripped across a pocket of wedding shops, a pale, glittery cluster of chiffon and netting at a road junction.
What we later mistook for a garden entrance turned out to be a mere decorative façade for a learning institution of some kind. Inside the gated entrance was a miniature garden boasting a serene little pond with vegetation and the obligatory pointy roofed shelter at the waters edge. This was the most attractive part of the garden area as far as I am concerned. I am a big fan of the round mouse hole doorways that pepper the Chinese formal gardens, but the wonderful dragon atop the wall above it captivated me. He appears to have rather festive antlers to offset his impressive whiskers. Susan offered to take my picture with it. As you can see from my fluffy attire, it is much colder in China than I’ve ever found it and the temperature yesterday was about three degrees above freezing – quite acceptable compared to Glasgow’s sub zero climes this winter.
I just noticed that aside from the tiny bit of red jumper and the red bike light, this image is practically black and white! It looks very odd indeed…
