Day 23 - Homestay (Sunday, June 12th, 2011)

For the final part of our study of Chinese at Suzhou U., we were separated into groups of two and sent with three Suzhou students to visit one of their families (pictured) for lunch.  After the lunch -- which was probably the best meal I had had in China -- we went were scheduled to go spend time around Suzhou with the kids who had gone with us and see some sights or do anything else.

While one of the students had to leave us, me and my compatriot went with the two girls who had accompanied us (above) to go see the Pan Gate (盘门; Panmen) or the old city gate of Suzhou. 

Aside from the pagoda and other structures that made up the park, the most fascinating was the actual city gate (referred to as the Land and Water Gate) which had been constructed during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) by the State of Wu as a mode of protection for the capital (modern-day Suzhou, which was also originally called Wu).

The gate itself seemed similar to the Great Wall of China (in my eyes, at least) featuring walls and ramparts that faced what would later become the Grand Canal...

Mechanisms that lowered a gate (pictured above sentence) into the water in case of attack by that route or to halt suspicious vessels (the Water Gate)...

As well as the Land Gate, which could be closed to provide extra protection against an attack by land.

Following the excursion, I went to have dinner at one of the girl's homes -- which, I must say, was the best meal I had in China, with the earlier one now being moved to second best:

Which included, among other dishes (such as beef, shrimp, squid, two vegetable dishes, sticky rice and some goose) Beijing Duck (which is definitely the best dish I had while in China).