Atlas of China
Qingdao to Suzhou 青岛 – 苏州
Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 5 hours against about 4 hours by flight, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. Fares run ¥285 against about ¥400. The stations are in or near the city centres, which is what tips it.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-speed trainQingdao North 青岛北 → Suzhou 苏州 | 4 h 35 minD2905, fastest | 5 hours | ¥285standard class | 508:06–20:30 |
| FlightQingdao Jiaodong (TAO) → Sunan Shuofang (WUX) | 1 h 35 minin the air | 4 hours | about ¥400varies by day | 115:55 |
By train
5 direct high-speed trains a day run from Qingdao North to Suzhou, between 08:06 and 20:30. The fastest, D2905, takes 4 h 35 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥285. Coming back, 5 trains a day, the fastest 4 h 49 min (D2906, 07:36 to 22:32).
Qingdao: Qingdao North also has many high-speed trains. Suzhou: No airport of its own: flights use Sunan Shuofang Airport in Wuxi, about 30 km away, and Shanghai is about half an hour by high-speed train.
By air
One nonstop flight a day from Qingdao Jiaodong (TAO) to Sunan Shuofang (WUX), 1 h 35 min in the air, at 15:55, with China Eastern Airlines. One flies back. Door to door, with the airports at each end, count about 4 hours; fares vary by day and are typically about ¥400.
Stops on the way
Cities between the two with direct trains from Qingdao and on to Suzhou, so the trip can be broken there.
- Yancheng 盐城 300 km from Qingdao · 2 h 47 min there, 3 h 10 min on
At the other end
Featured places around Suzhou.
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Classical Gardens of Suzhou 苏州园林
Whole landscapes of rock, water and pavilion folded into a city block
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Zhouzhuang 周庄古镇
Jiangnan's most famous water town, famed for its Twin Bridges and merchant halls
Around Qingdao: Qingdao Old Town & Seafront, Mount Lao (Laoshan).
On the map
Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.
Book
About Qingdao · About Suzhou · Where Qingdao reaches in a day · All routes
Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.