Suzhou
ChinaCfa
© OpenStreetMap, CARTO
上有天堂，下有苏杭。 | Above there is heaven, below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou.
Why visit
The classical gardens are essential, the Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, Master of the Nets Garden, and Lion Grove are masterworks of compressed landscape design. Walk Pingjiang Road's 1,000-year-old canalside lanes, ride a wooden boat under arched stone bridges, and visit the silk museum where Suzhou embroidery (one of China's four great styles) is demonstrated. The water town of Tongli, half an hour out, offers a calmer canal experience. Try sweet Suzhou-style cuisine: squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, biluochun green tea, and mooncakes from the historic Daoxiang Cun bakery.
When to avoid
Gardens get extremely crowded during Chinese national holidays (October's Golden Week is the worst), visit at opening or in shoulder season. Summer humidity is brutal. Mosquitoes around water features bite hard. Tap water is unsafe, stick to bottled. English is improving but install Pleco translator. Pingjiang Road and main shopping streets are tourist-priced, venture two blocks off for authentic, cheaper food.