In Shanghai, whenever the topic of going out for fun comes up, Suzhou is always the first place that comes to mind. I'd long heard about Suzhou's economy and culture, and I wanted to experience them firsthand. So here we go — my whirlwind one-day trip to Suzhou.
Pingjiang Road
Our first stop of the morning was Pingjiang Road. The shops along the street were still closed when we arrived, and some only started opening as we walked by. It's classic Jiangnan water-town scenery, yet every water town I've been to feels different — each has its own charm.
Lion Grove Garden
Friends kept telling me how exquisite Suzhou's gardens are, and I wanted to see for myself. Well, I came.
Maybe it's my lack of background knowledge, but I didn't really feel the Lion Grove's exquisiteness or distinctiveness 🤡. Instead, the narrow paths and the crowds inside made me uncomfortable.
Pipa Yu Pingtan
We got to Pingjiang Road just before 8 a.m. To see Ms. Wu, we queued for tickets at the new Pipa Yu venue, while seven or eight scalpers sitting nearby kept shouting, “No tickets left today!” We then bought tickets at the old Pipa Yu venue, where they were plentiful. When I complained to the staff there about the scalpers at the new venue, all they said was, “There's a limit to how many tickets each person can buy.”
Even though the ticket-buying experience wasn't great, the hour of pingtan was still wonderfully relaxing and carefree. It's hard to explain — it was a rare chance to truly unwind.
Hanshan Temple
“Hanshan Temple beyond the walls of Gusu”
I also spotted a young woman praying very devoutly, and by a stroke of luck I managed to capture the moment 👇
Qili Shantang
By the time we reached the Qili Shantang scenic area, it was already night. It was packed — so crowded that I felt really uncomfortable, and this was just Suzhou on an ordinary weekend.
The main attraction is basically one street, with all kinds of shops on both sides. In my view, it was just another commercial street with “Suzhou” written on it.
Food
Snacks
Plum blossom cake — sweet and tasty, but I've never had much of a sweet tooth.
Mrs. Suzhou: Exquisite Suzhou Cuisine
Suzhou cuisine as a whole tastes sweet: the shrimp was sweet, and so was the Dongpo pork.
The stir-fried whitebait with eggs tasted about the same as what my family makes at home. The only dish that really went with rice was the pickled cabbage fish (though that probably isn't Suzhou cuisine either 😅).
It's not that the food was bad — the layers of flavor and the richness of texture were all there. It just didn't quite suit my taste.
One Day in Suzhou