Childhood thumb|left|alt=The Shizilin Garden in Suzhou. Men and women stand on curving rock formations overlooking a pond containing flowery plants.|As a child, Pei found the Shizilin Garden in Suzhou to be "an ideal playground".Boehm, p. 18.
Childhood thumb|left|alt=The Shizilin Garden in Suzhou. Men and women stand on curving rock formations overlooking a pond containing flowery plants.|As a child, Pei found the Shizilin Garden in Suzhou to be "an ideal playground".Boehm, p. 18.