北寺塔 （běi sì tǎ）Bei Si Pagoda
This is the largest pagoda in China South of the Yangtze River. Anyone visiting Su Zhou will undoubtably drive past this pagoda several times. As I have said in other posts, I think that it is better to view the pagodas from the outside than the inside because more often than not there isn’t much to see inside the pagodas, except a view of the city. So, this is one of those places that you could visit if you have the time but isn’t a must do, in my opinion.
平江路 （píng jiāng lù）Ping Jiang Walking Street
This is the culture street of Su Zhou. Ping Jiang Street runs parallel to a river adding to the scenery and making the area even more distinct. Ping Jiang street is often packed with people. It is a great area to take a walk and do a bit of window shopping. This street also serves a great place to grab a bite to eat. The food is mostly small snacks that are more grab and go style but there are also proper restaurants to dine-in as well. I personally like the culture streets and like to compare and contrast the culture streets between different cities. They all seem to have their own distinct features making them interesting and enjoyable.
The Boat Tours
The boat tours go through the canals and rivers surrounding Su Zhou. Normally, the boat tours are about an hour long, however, I am sure that there are different lengths of tours for different prices. I have heard that because the rivers don’t have much of a current to them the water is very smelly. I personally have never been on the boat tours in Su Zhou but that should not reflect on the tours being poor in quality. I heard that there were better places to take boat tours like 朱家角 Zhou Jia Jiao and 乌镇 Wu Zhen. However, if you don’t think that you’ll have the time to visit any of these famous water towns, then by all means make taking the boat tour in Su Zhou a priority. I have heard that the boat tours are around 120RMB.
The Lion’s Grove Garden 狮子林园 （shī zi lín yuán）
I spent a limited amount of time when I was in Su Zhou, so I unfortunately cannot provide an abundance of information on the all of the popular sites in Su Zhou. However, there was one site that was mentioned repeatedly while I was there, it is called 狮子林园 or the Lion’s Grove Garden. I am led to believe this is an area similar to The Garden of the Master of the Nets. It appears to be a villa that’s emphasis is on trees, shrubbery and lakes/canals.
I have not heard much about this place before or since I traveled to Su Zhou. This could mean 1 of 2 things either this area isn’t really worth mentioning or that it is another hidden gem that is off the beaten path and not frequently visited. I’ll let you decide if it is worth your time, however, it is not a far from the Humble Administrative Gardens. So, a trip to see The Lion’s Grove Garden should not take much time at all.
2-Day Itinerary for Sū Zhōu
Even though this is a 2-day itinerary for Su Zhou you could easily spend one day in Su Zhou without missing out on too much. It depends on how much time you have on your trip, however, one full day would suffice.
Day 1:
- Visit the Humble Administrator’s Garden.
- Take a boat tour of Su Zhou.
Day 2:
- Visit the Garden of the Master of the Nets.
- Visit the Lion’s Grove Garden.
- (If there’s time) Visit the Bei Si Pagoda.
Side note:
Su Zhou is very close to Hang Zhou, only about an hour train ride (if that long). So, if you plan on visiting one you will likely be able to visit the other. Again though, it depends on how much time you have on your trip, but food for thought.
International Kev 