A guide to help you enjoy Suzhou's ancient towns during summer vacation while saving money and hassle

There are several ancient towns around Suzhou, with Mudu Ancient Town being the closest to the city center. Since I had only seen Suzhou's gardens before and had never visited an ancient town, it's a must to check out Mudu Ancient Town when traveling to Suzhou. In the morning, I first visited Hanshan Temple and Xiyuan Temple, and at noon, I returned to Guanqian Street to the Mudu Ancient Town, which Emperor Qianlong visited six times. To save time, you can take a taxi to and from Mudu Ancient Town. Since it's close to the city center, the taxi fare is not expensive. Mudu Ancient Town is said to be a thousand-year-old town. Emperor Qianlong stopped here six times during his southern tours, staying at the Lingyan Mountain Resort, and visited the Yan Family Garden and Hongyin Mountain House. Mudu Ancient Town is not large, with just one old street, one Xiangxi River, and a few main attractions: Hongyin Mountain House, Yan Family Garden, Lingyan Mountain, etc. Besides strolling through the old street and visiting the above main attractions, I highly recommend taking a water town boat ride on Xiangxi River. Spend a little money to ask the boatwoman to sing a few local tunes. At that moment, as the boat glides through the water, with green trees shading the surface, sitting at the bow, watching the green trees cast dense shadows over the rippling water, and listening to the boatwoman sing in the soft Wu dialect, you can't know how beautiful it is without experiencing it yourself! 📍Attraction address: No. 188, Shantang Street, Mudu Town, Wuzhong District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province 🚗Transportation to the attraction: Take the metro line 5 to Lingyan Mountain Metro Station - Exit 1 Northeast, and walk 473 meters to reach the scenic area. 👍️Must-visit attractions: Besides strolling through the old street and visiting the above main attractions, I highly recommend taking a water town boat ride on Xiangxi River. Spend a little money to ask the boatwoman to sing a few local tunes. At that moment, as the boat glides through the water, with green trees shading the surface, sitting at the bow, watching the green trees cast dense shadows over the rippling water, and listening to the boatwoman sing in the soft Wu dialect, you can't know how beautiful it is without experiencing it yourself! 🎟️Ticket information: Mudu Ancient Town is free all day, but the main attractions charge an admission fee. The combined ticket for the internal small attractions (including Yan Family Garden, Hongyin Mountain House, Ancient Pine Garden, and Banyan Official Residence) is 78 yuan for adults, half-price for children between 1.2m and 1.5m tall and seniors aged 60-69 with valid ID, free for children under 1.2m and seniors over 70 with valid ID, no discount for students with student ID. Yan Family Garden alone is 40 yuan, Hongyin Mountain House alone is 40 yuan, Ancient Pine Garden alone is 20 yuan, and Banyan Official Residence alone is 10 yuan. Mingyue Temple ticket is 10 yuan, Ming and Qing Ancient Porcelain Museum ticket is 5 yuan. 💗Other tips: These two are not included in the combined ticket. I personally recommend buying the combined ticket!