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Suzhou

No reviews yetCity Jiangsu, China
Suzhou, Jiangsu, ChinaLion Grove Garden Suzhou November 2017 009, Suzhou, Jiangsu, ChinaA gallery bridge in Pingjiang Road, Gusu, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, 215000, Suzhou, Jiangsu, ChinaChina   Suzhou   Garden of Cultivation   Ravine, Suzhou, Jiangsu, ChinaLingering Garden   石林小院晚翠峰 20220904, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

About Suzhou

Canals, humped stone bridges and whitewashed houses under dark tiled roofs have earned Suzhou the old nickname Venice of the East, though the city is far older than its Italian comparison. Founded as the capital of the Kingdom of Wu around 2,500 years ago, it grew rich on silk and the Grand Canal, and its merchants and scholar-officials poured that wealth into private gardens.

Those gardens are why most travellers come. Nine of them, including the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden and the Master of the Nets Garden, are listed together by UNESCO as masterpieces of Chinese landscape design. Between them, lanes such as Pingjiang Road and Shantang Street keep the canal-town atmosphere, and I. M. Pei's Suzhou Museum adds a modern note.

The city stretches far beyond the old moat, east to the towers around Jinji Lake and west to the shores of Lake Tai. Local cooking is delicate and slightly sweet, from squirrel-shaped mandarin fish to fine soup noodles. High-speed trains reach Shanghai in about half an hour.

Best seasonMarch to May and September to November
Ideal stay2 days, or a long day trip from Shanghai
ArrivingSuzhou Railway Station, with frequent high-speed trains from Shanghai; the nearest major airports are in Shanghai

12 Reasons to Visit Suzhou

Gardens 4

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Humble Administrator's Garden

The largest of Suzhou's classical gardens was laid out in the early sixteenth century by a retired official, Wang Xianchen, and is...
Lingering Garden, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Lingering Garden

First created in the late Ming dynasty, Liu Yuan is famed for its long covered corridor, whose lattice windows frame little scenes...
Master of the Nets Garden, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Master of the Nets Garden

Suzhou's smallest major garden proves how much can fit into a little space. Built around a single central pond, the Master of the...
Lion Grove Garden, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Lion Grove Garden

Created in 1342 by a Buddhist monk, the Lion Grove Garden is best known for its maze of contorted Taihu limestone rocks, said to r...

Museums 1

Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Suzhou Museum

Designed by I. M. Pei, whose family came from Suzhou, this museum opened in 2006 next to the Humble Administrator's Garden. White...

Neighborhoods 2

Pingjiang Road, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Pingjiang Road

Running beside a narrow canal in the old city, this lane of whitewashed houses, stone bridges and willow trees keeps much of its t...
Shantang Street, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Shantang Street

Said to have been laid out in the ninth century under the Tang poet-governor Bai Juyi, Shantang Street follows a canal from the ol...

Landmarks 1

Tiger Hill Suzhou, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Tiger Hill Suzhou

Northwest of the old city, Tiger Hill has drawn visitors for centuries with its leaning brick pagoda, completed in the tenth centu...

History 1

Panmen Gate, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Panmen Gate

In the southwest corner of the old city wall, Panmen is a rare surviving combination of land and water gates, through which boats...

Temples and Shrines 2

Hanshan Temple, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Hanshan Temple

Hanshan Temple, the Cold Mountain Temple, is famous across East Asia thanks to a Tang dynasty poem by Zhang Ji about hearing its b...
Xuanmiao Temple, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Xuanmiao Temple

In the middle of Guanqian Street, the busy pedestrian shopping heart of the old city, this Taoist temple has a history going back...

Nature 1

Jinji Lake, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Jinji Lake

East of the old city in the Suzhou Industrial Park, Jinji Lake shows the city's twenty-first-century face, ringed by parks, promen...

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