Thomas and I don’t take weekend trips too often but Suzhou was definitely worth the time and energy. Suzhou is about 30 minutes outside of Shanghai and is considered the Venice of China due to its canal system. The center of the city, where you can find all of the artsy attractions, contains rows of low rise buildings that are painted white with black tile roofing. The government doesn’t allow skyscrapers to be built there in an attempt to preserve the historical charm of the city (good call China!) but around the city center you can see several tall buildings and skyscrapers dotting the skyline.
We got into Suzhou early Saturday morning. The taxi driver pointed us in the wrong direction so we proceeded to wander for about an hour before we found the hostel. Our hostel was located on the historical Pingjiang road, a little pedestrian street where you can find amazing Chinese architecture in the southern style, wonderful tea houses, and fantastic little shops that house homemade, handcrafted tea pots, artwork, and jewelry. Once we checked into our hostel we realized our camera broke. It was only a matter of time before our camera gave out on us (we were using a paper clip to take pictures with it) so we decided to just commit and get a new camera. We quickly stopped over at a PC Mall and purchase a little camera for the rest of the week (and the rest of our time here in China). After running around all morning we decided to take a lunch break and try a restaurant that was recommended to us and close to the hostel. The restaurant is called Pin Von Teahouse and it was by far our favorite place to eat in Suzhou. This particular teahouse has been operating for 130 years. It was probably one of the best meals we’ve had in China yet.
After our lunch at Pin Von Teahouse we rented bikes from our hostel and headed down the street to visit the Humble Administrator’s Garden. This garden was very beautiful and extremely busy! It was built in the 16th century and was covered in early spring flowers. A huge part of Chinese gardens is their rock formation and placements. Hopefully you will see that in the pictures. Afterwards we headed to see a pagoda tower called Beisi Ta. This particular pagoda was built during the Song Dynasty, so around the 10th century. It took us ages to climb to the top but we got some great pictures of the surrounding city.
That evening we went shopping around Pingjiang road, ate dinner at another tea house, and had a few drinks before we turned in early. The next morning we ate a quick breakfast before we grabbed our bikes and headed off to visit the Pan Men scenic area. This was a much less crowded site and it had equally beautiful gardens. Pan Men also contains China’s only water and land gate: very exciting stuff!
Our final stop was at the famous Tiger Hill Park. This park is the burial site of the founder of Suzhou and contains the “Leaning Tower of Suzhou.” The whole park consists of intricately woven pathways that lead to various outlooks and buildings. We even took a boat ride along the canal that circles the park. Towards the north entrance Thomas and I stumbled upon a little tea farm where you could watch workers picking tea. There was also a little café where you could order a cup of tea that was freshly picked and dried just days ago. It was fantastic!
Our train left for Nanjing around 6:45 and we left the city tired but happy. It was such an amazing trip and a nice change of scenery. Suzhou was the perfect place to celebrate our 3 year anniversary.
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