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Jiangsu

Suzhou

A canal city west of Shanghai, known for walled gardens built as private worlds.

Suzhou's old center is flat, cut by canals, and easy to walk. The famous gardens are scattered through it. Each one is a sequence of courtyards, rock, and water, and they blur together if you try to see all of them in a day. One large garden and one small garden is a full day. The Humble Administrator's Garden and the Master of the Nets Garden are the usual pair. Pingjiang Road, along a canal east of the main gardens, is the walk between them. The city is a day trip from Shanghai, but the gardens are calmer on a morning that did not start on the train.

Plan Suzhou

A day-by-day draft from the notes on this page. Hours and prices still need a local check.

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Guides

Guide A day in the gardens
One large garden, one small one, and the canal street between them. Guide Three days in Suzhou
Two garden days with the canal street between them, and Tiger Hill on its own morning.

Maps

Map Suzhou on foot
The central gardens sit together. Tiger Hill is the one stop on the northwest edge.

Albums

Gardens and canals
Courtyards, rockeries, and covered walks in Suzhou.

Films

The garden from above
50 sec A quiet minute over a classical garden in Suzhou: covered walkways, still water, and one overhead pass.