Who knew Chinese gardens were all about rockeries?
谁知道中国的园林全部是假山呢？

The main railway station is near the old townand an easy walk, but you need to know how to get out of the station and ontothe main road, so we spent quite a while wandering around the various entry andexit lanes of the station looking for a way out. If I remember rightly, just walk out to the square and then go to the right and there's a footpath.
苏州火车站距离古城很近，是一段轻松的路程，但是你需要知道如何才能走出车站然后走在大路上，我们花了相当长的时间徘徊在火车站的各种入口和出口的路线上寻找一条出去的路。如果我记忆正确的话，只要走出广场然后右转，就会看到一条小路。

7楼

These buildings sometimes display ancient Chinese writingsets, carvings or performances on traditional instruments or opera. Toget between the various gardens you wander down narrow stone streets beside themultiple canals that crisscross the old town. There are lots of cutestalls and shops selling various trinkets and foods.
这些建筑有时展览中国古书法、雕刻或者古典乐器和戏剧的演奏。为了到达各式各样的园林，你沿着狭窄的石头小路行走，小路的旁边是贯穿古城的许多小河。有很多可爱的摊位和商店出售各种各样的饰物和食物。

As well as the gardens, we visited the North Pagoda,mainly because it was at the end of the street where our hotel was. Weclimbed the ten staircases to the top where there is a view over thewhole city, with the old streets in the foreground lookingout towards the new modern city in the distance.
除了那些园林，我们还参观了北寺塔，主要因为它是我们酒店所在的街道的尽头。我们爬到十楼到达了楼顶，那里能看到这座城市的全貌：由眼前的古街望向远处的崭新摩登城区。

When you readabout visiting Suzhou online, people critisise it by being a disappointment,suggesting that it's not what people imagine when they want to visit a Chinesewater town, and that the development has spoiled the old town. I have todisagree. We found it to be a cute town with those pretty views that you picturewhen you think about old China.
当你在网上读到关于苏州的旅行记录时，人们批评苏州会让你失望，建议说苏州不再是人们想象中的希望参观的中国水镇的样子，工业发展已经污染了古城。我必须反对这个说法，我认为苏州是一个可爱的古城，它有你对古中国想象中的那种漂亮的风景。

Yes, it is developed. There is McDonald's and Starbucks andthere are lots of factories and skyscrapers. But you can't expect people tokeep things traditional just so we tourists can go and enjoy it and experiencethe 'China' that we have seen in the movies. There has to be compromise.
是的，苏州发展了。它有麦当劳和星巴克，还有许多工厂和摩天大楼。但是你不能期望人们仅仅为了我们游客能喜欢和体验我们在电影中看到的中国而保持所有东西传统的。必须有妥协才可以。

And yes, it is busy. Very very busy. Like every touristattraction in China, there are thousands of domestic tourists visiting it ontours, so coaches pull up to each garden and a guide with amegaphone will lead out 50-odd people wearing matching caps displaying the nameof the tour company.
苏州园林非常繁忙，就像中国的其他旅游胜地一样，有数千国内旅游者组团访问它，所以旅游巴士停在每个园林，并且一个带喇叭的导游会带领50个临时组成的带着印有旅行社帽子的旅游团。

As I said, this happens at every tourist attraction in China.The bottom line is that there are A LOTof people in China, and as my students would say 'with the development of theeconomy' many have more money now and want to explore their country.
就像我说的那样，这种事情发生在中国的任何一个旅游名胜。其本质就是中国有太多的人，我的中国学生说过：随着经济的发展，现在很多人变得更有钱，并且希望探索他们的国家。