Suzhou 苏州
Classical gardens and canals, 25 minutes from Shanghai.
- Region
- Jiangsu
- Best months
- Mar, Apr, May, Oct, Nov
- Nights to budget
- 2
- Airport
- No international airport
Why visit Suzhou
- Nine UNESCO-listed classical gardens inside the city
- The canals here predate Venice’s tourist route by centuries
- A faster, cheaper alternative base to Shanghai
What to see
- • Humble Administrator’s Garden
- • Lingering Garden
- • Tiger Hill
- • Pingjiang Road canals
- • Suzhou Museum (I. M. Pei)
- • Tongli water town
What to eat
- Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish
- Suzhou-style mooncakes
- Kernelled noodles (tang mian)
- Cherry pork
- Biluochun tea
Getting there
Suzhou to Shanghai 25 min, to Nanjing 1h10 — use Shanghai Hongqiao or Wuxi for flights.
Suzhou has a metro, so most journeys inside the city cost ¥2–10 and avoid traffic entirely.
Practical guides for Suzhou
City-specific topic pages are being written city by city. In the meantime these national guides apply everywhere.
- Visa & entry
Whether you need a visa for China, and the three routes that get most travellers in without one.
- Payment & money apps
Alipay and WeChat Pay now accept foreign cards.
- eSIM & connectivity
How to get online in China without losing access to Google, WhatsApp and Instagram.
- Safety
China is statistically one of the safest countries for travellers.
- Getting around
Metro, taxi, ride-hailing and buses — how each works and which to use when.
- High-speed rail
The world’s largest high-speed network — how to book, board and not miss your train.
- Food & eating
How to order, what the regional specialities actually are, and how to handle dietary needs.
- Hotels & booking
Which sites actually work for foreigners, and what to check before you pay.
- Attraction tickets
Almost every major attraction now requires a timed online reservation, often days ahead.
- Money & costs
What a day actually costs, where the money goes, and how to budget by tier.
- Language & communication
How far English gets you, and the handful of Chinese that changes the trip.
- Apps you need
The short list of apps that make the trip work, and what each one replaces.