Suzhou 苏州Sūzhōu

About Suzhou

Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou grew rich on silk and Grand Canal trade, and its retired officials built the classical gardens now listed by UNESCO, from the Humble Administrator's Garden to the compact Master of the Nets. Canals still thread the old town along Pingjiang Road and Shantang Street, Tiger Hill's leaning pagoda rises to the north-west, and Kunqu opera began in nearby Kunshan. Beyond the city lie the water towns of Zhouzhuang and Tongli and the hills and islands of Lake Tai.

What to eat in Suzhou

• Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish (松鼠鳜鱼)
• Suzhou-style mooncakes (苏式月饼)
• Biluochun green tea (碧螺春)

Featured places in Suzhou

• 

  Classical Gardens of Suzhou 苏州园林

  Whole landscapes of rock, water and pavilion folded into a city block

  Best time: Mar–May, Oct–Nov · Time needed: 1 day · 5A scenic area · National heritage site · UNESCO World Heritage

• 

  Zhouzhuang 周庄古镇

  Jiangnan's most famous water town, famed for its Twin Bridges and merchant halls

  Best time: Mar–May, Sep–Nov · Time needed: Half a day · 5A scenic area · National heritage site

Listed sites in Suzhou

75 listed sites are in Suzhou. These are the 38 rated 5A or 4A; see all 75 in the Jiangsu list.

• Jinji Lake 金鸡湖 5A scenic area
  The lake at the centre of Suzhou Industrial Park, the modern district east of the old city, turned from a shallow marshy lake into a ring of waterfront parks and promenades under a landscape plan of 2003.
• Lake Tai Scenic Area, Wuzhong (Dongshan, Qionglong & Wangshan) 吴中太湖旅游区 5A scenic area · on the map
  A 5A scenic area on the eastern shore of Lake Tai in Suzhou's Wuzhong district, made up of three separate parts: the Dongshan peninsula, Qionglong Mountain and the Wangshan valley.
• Shajiabang & Yushan–Shanghu Scenic Area 沙家浜·虞山尚湖旅游区 5A scenic area
  A two-part 5A scenic area in Changshu, a county-level city north-east of Suzhou.
• Tongli Ancient Town 同里古镇 5A scenic area · National heritage site
  A canal town of more than a thousand years on the edge of Wujiang, crossed by waterways and old stone bridges and named in 2003 among the first ten historic and cultural towns of China.
• Baimajian Eco-Park 白马涧生态园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A park of about 1.5 km² in the wooded hills on Suzhou's western edge, west of Fengqiao in the High-tech District, which the city calls the district's 'green lung'; legend makes the valley a horse farm of the King of Wu.
• China Embroidery Art Museum, Zhenhu 中国刺绣艺术馆 4A scenic area · on the map
  A museum of embroidery in Zhenhu, a lakeside subdistrict west of Suzhou known for Su embroidery, where more than 8,000 local people work as embroiderers.
• Dayangshan National Forest Park 大阳山国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A national forest park covering Yangshan, a wooded range of hills on the north-western edge of Suzhou whose main peak, Jianque Peak (338 m), is the second-highest around the city.
• Fangta Pagoda (Chongjiao Xingfu Temple Pagoda) 方塔 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  Changshu's 'Square Pagoda' is the surviving pagoda of Chongjiao Xingfu Temple, begun in 1130 and rebuilt in 1272.
• Grand Canal at Pingwang (Wujiang Canal Culture Area) 吴江运河文化旅游区 4A scenic area · on the map
  The old town of Pingwang in southern Wujiang, where the Ditang canal from Huzhou joins the Grand Canal at Yingdou Lake, rated a 4A scenic area in 2023.
• Guangfu Scenic Area (Xiangxuehai & Situ Temple) 光福景区 4A scenic area · on the map
  A group of sights around Guangfu, a town in the hills by Lake Tai west of Suzhou, managed as one scenic area with its visitor centre beside Situ Temple.
• Hanshan Temple 寒山寺 4A scenic area
  A Buddhist temple at Fengqiao, about 5 km west of Suzhou's old city, facing the old canal; tradition dates it to 502–519 and names it after the legendary monk-poet Hanshan, said to have been its abbot in the Tang.
• Jingsi Garden 静思园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A large private garden in classical Suzhou style, built over ten years from 1993 by a local entrepreneur in the countryside of Wujiang.
• Jinxi Ancient Town 锦溪古镇 4A scenic area · on the map
  A canal town among the lakes of south-west Kunshan, called Chenmu from 1512 until 1992 after the 'water tomb' of a Song imperial consort, Consort Chen, on an islet in Wubao Lake beside the town.
• Jiyang Lake Eco-Tourism Area 暨阳湖 4A scenic area · on the map
  A large lake park on the southern side of central Zhangjiagang, with lakeside paths, gardens and lawns around the water.
• Jusha Pagoda, Meili 聚沙塔 4A scenic area · National heritage site · on the map
  A brick pagoda in the small town of Meili, north-east of Changshu, first built in the Southern Song dynasty between 1131 and 1162.
• Lili Ancient Town 黎里古镇 4A scenic area
  A well-preserved canal town in the south-east of Wujiang near the borders with Shanghai and Zhejiang, laid out as one canal with a street along each bank.
• Lion Grove Garden 狮子林 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  A garden founded in 1342 by disciples of the Chan monk Tianru as part of a Buddhist monastery, named after its Taihu rocks, which are said to look like lions.
• Luzhi Ancient Town & Baosheng Temple 甪直古镇 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  A canal town east of Suzhou whose old quarter keeps Ming- and Qing-style houses along its waterways and many old stone bridges, a few from the Song and Ming dynasties; in 2003 it was named one of China's first historic and cultural towns.
• Master of the Nets Garden 网师园 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  A small residential garden first laid out in the Southern Song as an official's library retreat and rebuilt in the Qianlong era by Song Zongyuan, who renamed it after the fisherman, the 'master of the nets', as a symbol of the simple life.
• Mudu Ancient Town 木渎古镇 4A scenic area
  An old canal town at the foot of Lingyan Hill on Suzhou's western edge, named a national historic and cultural town in 2005, which the Qianlong Emperor visited six times and which fills half of the 18th-century scroll Prosperous Suzhou.
• Pan Gate & Ruiguang Pagoda 盘门 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  The only original gate left from Suzhou's city wall, a combined land and water gate at the south-west corner of the old city where the moat meets the Grand Canal; the present gate was built in 1351 under the Yuan, with a square barbican added in 1356, and it is a component of the Grand Canal World Heritage Site.
• Pingjiang Road Historic District 平江历史街区 4A scenic area
  A historic quarter in the north-east of Suzhou's old city, laid out along Pingjiang Road and the Pingjiang canal, which have run side by side for some 800 years and already appear on the city map of 1229.
• Qiandeng Ancient Town 千灯古镇 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  An old canal town south of Kunshan, threaded by a stone-slab street.
• Shangfang Mountain National Forest Park 上方山国家森林公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A wooded hill on the shore of Shihu Lake on Suzhou's southern edge, protected as a national forest park and known for remains linked to the ancient states of Wu and Yue.
• Shantang Street 山塘街 4A scenic area
  A canal street in north-west Suzhou that follows the Shantang canal, dug in 825 under the poet and prefect Bai Juyi to link Changmen gate with Tiger Hill; street and canal run for 'seven li' (about 3.8 km), the source of its nickname.
• Shaxi Ancient Town 沙溪古镇 4A scenic area
  An old market town on the Qipu River in the middle of Taicang, named a national historic and cultural town of China in 2005.
• Suzhou Amusement Land Forest World 苏州乐园森林世界 4A scenic area · on the map
  A forest-themed amusement park at the foot of Dayang Mountain in Suzhou's western New District, opened after the original Suzhou Amusement Land of 1997 closed in 2017.
• Suzhou Bay Golden Lakeshore 苏州湾黄金湖岸 4A scenic area · on the map
  A waterfront leisure area of about 200 hectares on the shore of East Lake Tai in Suzhou Bay, the new lakeside district of Wujiang, made up of the East Lake Tai Ecological Park, the Suzhou Bay Plaza Park, a lakeside viewing platform, a restaurant quarter and a yacht club.
• Suzhou Imperial Kiln Gold Brick Museum 御窑金砖博物馆 4A scenic area · on the map
  A museum in Suzhou's Xiangcheng district beside the old Lumu imperial kilns, which in the Ming and Qing dynasties fired the fine clay floor tiles known as 'gold bricks' for the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace.
• Suzhou Lake Tai National Wetland Park 苏州太湖国家湿地公园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A national wetland park of about 230 hectares on the shore of Lake Tai at Zhenhu, in Suzhou's High-tech District, made by turning former fish ponds back into lakeside wetland.
• Taicang Modern Agricultural Park (Rose Manor) 太仓现代农业园 4A scenic area · on the map
  A large modern farming park of about 8,000 mu (533 hectares) in northern Taicang, run as a showcase for agricultural technology and ecology.
• Tianchi Mountain & Huashan (Jijian Temple) 天池山·花山 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  Two wooded hills west of Suzhou, Tianchi Mountain and Huashan, which with the neighbouring Baixiangwan valley form one scenic area inside the Dongwu National Forest Park.
• Tianping Mountain 天平山 4A scenic area · on the map
  A low hill on Suzhou's western outskirts, long linked with the Song statesman Fan Zhongyan, whose ancestors are buried here and who is honoured in a memorial hall.
• Tinglin Park, Kunshan 亭林园 4A scenic area · on the map
  Kunshan's main city park, laid out in 1906 as Ma'anshan Park around Yufeng Hill (Ma'anshan) in the north-west of the city and renamed in 1936 after the scholar Gu Yanwu, known as Master Tinglin.
• Xiangshan Scenic Area, Zhangjiagang 香山 4A scenic area · on the map
  Zhangjiagang's highest hill, at 136.6 m, a wooded ridge in Jingang (formerly Nansha town) west of the city centre, laid out as a scenic area of about 4.4 km² with plum groves, the Peach Blossom Brook valley, a lake and Buddhist halls.
• Xishan Island 西山 4A scenic area · on the map
  The largest island in Lake Tai, a hilly landscape of orchards and villages joined to the mainland by the Taihu Bridge, with Piaomiao Peak as its high point.
• Yonglian Village Scenic Area 永联村 4A scenic area · on the map
  Yonglian is a village in Nanfeng town whose rolling mill, set up by the village committee in 1984, grew into the Yonggang steel group.
• Zhenze Ancient Town & Ciyun Temple Pagoda 震泽古镇 4A scenic area · National heritage site
  A former silk town in the south-west of Wujiang on the Zhejiang border, a national historic and cultural town whose old quarter centres on Baota Street.

All 75 listed sites in Suzhou

Getting to Suzhou

Train, flight and driving times from the cities most visitors come from, with stations, fares and how many run a day; each opens the full comparison.

• Shanghai 上海 high-speed train 21 min, 234 a day, from ¥40
• Hangzhou 杭州 high-speed train 1 h 15 min, 47 a day, from ¥133
• Nanjing 南京 high-speed train 44 min, 215 a day, from ¥106
• Huangshan City 黄山市 high-speed train 3 h 19 min, 10 a day, from ¥233
• Qingdao 青岛 high-speed train 4 h 35 min, 5 a day, from ¥285; one nonstop flight a day, 1 h 35 min in the air

All routes

Trips with Suzhou

• China in 10 days on a first visit: Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Suzhou 10 days · Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and Suzhou
• Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Huangshan in eight days 8 days · Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Huangshan City

On the map

Open Suzhou on the illustrated map to see its outline, its places and listed sites together, and to add them to a trip.

Learn more

• Wikipedia
• Official website
• Wikipedia (Chinese)