Suzhou walking tour & city guide

The classical gardens

Suzhou's classical gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were created by scholars and officials to recreate natural landscapes in miniature, with rocks, ponds, pavilions and carefully framed views. The Humble Administrator's Garden is the largest and most famous, and the Lingering Garden and the small Master of the Nets Garden are just as beautiful.

The Suzhou Museum, designed by I. M. Pei, whose family came from Suzhou, reinterprets the gardens in a modern style.

Canals and water towns

Pingjiang Road and Shantang Street run along old canals lined with whitewashed houses, teahouses and shops, and are especially atmospheric with red lanterns at night. Boat rides on the canals and the Tiger Hill, with its leaning pagoda, are classic sights.

Around Suzhou, ancient water towns like Zhouzhuang and Tongli have canals, stone bridges and old houses. In the modern Suzhou Industrial Park, Jinji Lake is surrounded by skyscrapers, including the 'Gate of the Orient'.

Visiting tips

Suzhou is only about 25 minutes from Shanghai by high-speed train. The gardens are crowded on weekends, so visit early on a weekday. Suzhou has been a center of silk production for centuries, and its silk embroidery is famous.