Category: Suzhou Attractions

Mudu Ancient Town, in the southeast of Jiangsu Province and west of Suzhou Ancient City, is also located in the Taihu Lake Basin. It is a famous scenic spot in the south of the Yangtze River. Mudu Ancient Town is an ancient cultural town of the Han nationality of the same age as Suzhou City, with a history of more than 2,500 years. In August 2008, it was rated as a national AAAA scenic spot and one of the 13 scenic spots in Taihu Scenic Area.

Mudu Ancient Town is a place suitable for 1-day trip. When summer comes, the trees at the town entrance are sprayed with water to cool down. There are 4 attractions on the ticket, except Yanjia Garden, others are not very big. If there is a guide, it is actually better. All the ancient towns or entertainment facilities in Suzhou can help you learn a lot by walking with the guide, but now the technology is more developed, after scanning the code in the scenic spot, you will find there is an electronic guide. You can also listen to it. The introduction is still very careful. The town is not big, and there is convenient transportation, and there are not many tourists, making it a great place suitable for weekend leisure.

There are many famous ancient towns in Suzhou, and Mudu Ancient Town is relatively close to the urban area. It can be reached by subway and bus. Entering the ancient town is free, but some of the ancient gardens require tickets, and you can buy a joint ticket. Feel the charm of Suzhou gardens in various yards in Mudu Ancient Town. Many of the houses here are the former residences of the ancients. Don’t forget to come to see the lotus here in summer.

Tiger Hill Tower is the world’s second leaning tower, and the first leaning tower in China. And the symbol of ancient Suzhou – “Yunyan Temple Tower”, commonly is known as “Tiger Hill Tower.” It was built in the sixth generation of Zhou Xiande after the Five Dynasties. It was completed in Song Jianlong’s second year and has a history of more than a thousand years. The tower is seven-story and has eight sides, with a tower height of 47.7 meters. The tower is inclined to the north-north direction of the northeast. Its tower top is 2.34 meters away from the center, and the maximum inclination angle is 3 degrees and 59 minutes. The Tiger Hill Tower is also known as the “Chinese pizza oblique tower”. Although you make your trip there in the hottest time, the Tiger Hill are breezy and the scenery is pleasant. It is worth a visit. It is a pity that you don’t visit Tiger Hill in Suzhou!

Although Suzhou Tiger Hill Scenic Area is a little far from the city center, there are many buses directly there. Suzhou Good Travel Line Bus also has a station at the entrance of the Tiger Hill Scenic Area. Tiger Hill’s Sword Pool is in the scenic area. It is said that it is the location of the cemetery of Yuewang. It is the core attraction of the scenic spot. It is necessary to purchase tickets to enter the garden. It is also convenient to book the ticket online in advance. It is worth taking a walk in the garden. The scenic spot is very large and it takes two to three hours to finish your visit there!

After you leave the Humble Administrator’s Garden, take the No.1 south line bus to the end of the Tiger Hill, and arrive at the south gate of Tiger Hill. Tickets of the Tiger Hill are 60 yuan. Tiger Hill is rich in culture, poetry and inscriptions can be seen everywhere, the design of the villas is whimsy, and the Bamboo Tea Garden adds a lot of color for the garden. The pagoda on the top of the mountain is the only remaining thousand-year-old leaning tower in China. It is recommended to visit the Tiger Hill for half a day.

There is no Zhouzhuang’s embarrassment, no Wuzhen’s atmosphere, but has a little more quietness and more delicacy. When you are facing the misty autumn rain in the south of the Yangtze River, slowing down your own pace, slowly going to visit the Tongli Ancient Town, there is a different taste!

The traffic is very convenient. There is a direct bus in the North Square of the railway station. The more flexible traffic is the Metro Line 4, which is connected to the 925 or 725 bus. The basic changes in the construction of the scenic spot are not big. Some of the logos are not the same as the past, and the performances stages are gone. The road near the bus station are particularly good, and the shops are much better than before. Tickets for Tongli Ancient Town is 80 Yuan, the attractions have not changed, the Tuisi Garden is worth seeing. And you can wait till 17:00 or 18:00 P.M. in the evening, when it is relatively quiet. And the boat near the bridge is also worth sitting, as it will be a very interesting experience.

There are still several old houses in the old streets of Tongli Ancient Town, some of which have been converted into inn and homestay. It is very pure, the scenery in the sunset is more beautiful, the riverside has a good taste, and the night view is beautiful, and there are some attractions, including Ming and Qing Street, Tailai Bridge, Third Bridge, Tuisi Garden, Pearl Tower and other attractions, but after 17:30 in the summer, the tickets are free. A lot of tourists more like the ancient town in the evening when compare to the scenery during the day. As the business taste is not so strong at night, the bar is very lively, the singing voice is very moving, and there are more wonderful performances in the evening, you feel very NICE.

To sum up, if you want to have a tour to the water town, Tongli ancient water town is your ideal choice, you will enjoy yourself there.

Here are some travel guides for your tour to the Zhouzhuang Water Town:

Featured shopping

Zhenfeng Cultural Street: Selling Jiangnan handicrafts, including homespun, yellow wine, woodcut New Year pictures, bamboo art, etc. Most stores are closed at sunset.

Carton King theme creative park: all kinds of decorations and small objects in the store are made of paper, which is very characteristic. You will find that you can make so many fun things with just paper.

Yuanfengshun Wine Workshop: This winemaking process is ancestral. The raw materials are made from the unique glutinous rice in the water town. After a lot of complicated procedures, you can get a drink. If you are interested, you can buy the wine there.

Qinglan Workshop: Hand-painted ceramic plate painting, most of the paintings are classical figures and images, which are elegant and chic, and they are quite charming.

Zhouzhuang Accommodation

If conditions permit, it is recommended to stay in the Zhouzhuang ancient town for one night to get a deeper understanding of this place. There are many inns in the ancient towns, most of which are located along the river and attached to the backyard. The environment is very good and quiet, and you can choose it according to your needs.

Zhouzhuang cuisine

When you come to Zhouzhuang, the snacks here can’t be missed. There are many special snack shops around the Zhengfeng Street and around the Shen Hall. Zhouzhuang’s snacks are very rich, and all kinds of cakes can also be found here. You can look for it while shopping.

Special Note

1. If you take a tricycle from Zhouzhuang Water Town to the entrance, you need to explain the route and price. Sometimes there will be a situation where the driver will take the tourists to the ancient town and then increase the price.
2. The boat tour along the town and the sculling boat experience in the scenic area is not the same activity. The ticket for boat tour along the town can be bought at the ticket office of the scenic spot. The ticket for the sculling boat experience in the scenic area needs to go to the dock to buy and then take the boat.

Humble Administrator’s Garden is the most famous garden in Suzhou, but the biggest problem is that there are too many people. After entering, you will find that there are too many tour groups, which adds a lot of difficulty for you to take pictures. The interesting thing is that in the garden, there is also a water vapor cooling device, and it is very feminine when wearing a Chinese costume to take pictures there.

After going deep into the garden, you will see a lot of imaginary pavilions and plaques. The layout is very delicate, and it exudes gentle vitality in the green. This is also why so many people like the Suzhou city.

Since Humble Administrator’s Garden is the most famous garden in Suzhou, there will be many foreigners to visit. There is a free explanation service every half an hour in the visitor center. In the garden’s west entrance, you can receive a garden tour explanation device, although you do not follow it all the time. When you stay in each attraction for a long time, you will always be able to hear the explanation, and listening to stories and knowing about the design ingenuity there is still necessary, or you will feel that Suzhou gardens are the same.

Going to the west of the garden, many wonderful pavilions are squatting, but this is also a place where tourist groups gather. It is difficult to take photos of large scenes when there are too many people, so it is necessary to catch up early.

Tickets for Humble Administrator’s Garden are 90 Yuan/person. It is the most expensive ticket in Suzhou. There are a lot of tickets for selling at the door by other people. It is said that they sell just 40 Yuan, but you can buy discount tickets online and show your ID card at the door to enter the garden, which is more reliable and cheaper.

Overall, Humble Administrator Garde is more refined and beautiful than the other gardens. The bonsai of the bonsai garden is really graceful and elegant, so people don’t want to miss any pot. There is also Taihu Stone, with strange shape.

Suzhou has never lacked the unique tone that the regions south of the Yangtze River exclusively has. The old city of Suzhou is not big. If it is the first time to come to Suzhou, the garden must be included in your itinerary, such as The Humble Administrator’s Garden, Lion Grove Garden, Lingering Garden, Net Master Garden, etc. if you are interested in history, then you can go to Tiger Hill and Hanshan Temple. If there is enough time, don’t forget to choose a few ancient towns nearby to have a visit. The famous ones are Zhouzhuang and Tongli Ancient Towns. The nearest one is the MuDu Ancient Town, even if it is just in a daze, it is good choice for you. If you love the scenery between mountains and rivers, then go to Taihu Lake or go to Tianping Mountain. Dongshan and Xishan are unpopular, but the scenery is absolutely stunning there.

Anyway, among all the gardens in Suzhou, the Lingering Garden is the most preferred for so many visitors. Built in the Ming Dynasty, the Lingering Garden is also known as the Four Famous Gardens of China with Suzhou Humble Administrator’s Garden, Beijing Summer Palace, and Chengde Mountain Resort. It is well known for its exquisite architectural design and numerous stone buildings. In the garden, you can enjoy four different views of mountains and waters, fields, mountains and forest, gardens. It is divided into four scenic spots: the middle, east, west and north garden. The two walls of the corridor that runs through the scenic spot are the famous “legacy of the Lingering Garden”. The central part is famous for its water features, and it is the essence of the whole garden; the western part is known for the rockery scenery, which is the highest point of the whole park; the north is idyllic spot; the Yunyun Peak in the eastern part is one of the three wonders in the Lingering Garden gardens.

Official telephone number of The Lingering Garden: 0512-65517340; 0512-65579466; 0512-65337903.

Reference for time needed: 1-3 hours.

How to go to The Lingering Garden:

Take the tourism line 1, line 3, line 5 or No. 6, 7, 22, 33, 44, 70, 85, 88, 91, 317 directly to the Lingering Garden, or you can take the No.101, No. 103 to the Guanqian street station and transfer to the tourism line 1.

Tickets:

Ordinary ticket: 55 Yuan for adult ticket (Monday to Sunday)

Ordinary ticket: 45 Yuan for adult ticket (Monday to Sunday, October 31 – April 15 of the following year)

Opening hours:

07:30-17:30 (Monday – Sunday from January 1st – December 31st)