Suzhou

One last city to visit in China and it is Suzhou. I went there today with all my relatives to visit my grandpa's grave. The last time I went there was for my grandpa's funeral which was about nine years ago. It was also the first time I went back to China and I am now here again after that long period of time.

His grave site is very beautiful on a lush green mountain. There are concrete steps everywhere and each grave site has it's own little gated area made of marble-looking material. As you can see, the names are listed along with pictures and the black paint means the person has passed away. My name is actually on that stone also to the left side where it lists the family members.

I didn't know my grandpa that well since he died when I was in second grade. He did, however, live with me for quite some time. I still have pictures of little me with his huge old glasses on and faint memories of him walking around the house. He got very sick with lung cancer though and unfortunately he lost his battle January 31st, 2001.

My relatives cleaned up the grave site and added a nice vase of flowers. We also visited some older relatives' grave sites but I did not know them. Unfortunately, the weather was hot and humid again so we were all drenched in sweat. I know wet clothes are not necessarily attractive but that's the outcome of our natural way to keep cool!