The Beauty of Tai Hu

Turtle Head

I am a teacher at a school here in Wuxi and recently I had the opportunity to go on an outing to Tai Hu and visit Turtle Head Island the Three Hills Island (Just as a side note, Turtle Head Island is not actually and island, but a peninsula). It is here that you can walk around and view Tai Hu (Tai Lake). There are many things to see including paths to walk on where you can view forests of bamboo, trees and flowers and Buddhist temples. There are also 3 amusement parks and plenty of stalls to buy souvenirs. From here I rode the ferry over to Sanshan (Three Hills Island) which took around 15-20 minutes. Sanshan has several temples, 3 Buddha statues and countless scenic spots. One of the biggest temples on Sanshan had a huge pagoda tower which we climbed up. When you get to the top you can ring a bell 6 times and pound a drum 3 times for good luck. From here I could see my school and much of Wuxi. We spent the whole day there on the island exploring and taking pictures. It was here that I received my Chinese name from the tour guide I was with, it is Luo ai hu. I guess it means a beautiful flower, but my tour guides English is not the best so I am not sure of the exact translation.
If you are going to travel to Turtle Head Island I would suggest going in the middle of the week. It can get extremely crowded and that tends to take away from the beauty of what you are trying to experience. The cost to get into Turtle Head Island is around Y80 ($10 US) and that includes the ferry fee over to Sanshan. If you have a desire to eat while you are at Turtle Head they are certainly not lacking in good food.
So if you are ever in Wuxi make sure you visit Tai Hu and Turtle Head Island, you will thoroughly enjoy it!