The "Top Group" in Suzhou Garden Circle
Notes on a walk through Suzhou gardens: rockeries, pavilions, waterways and the art of getting lost
Momoda opening
1. Humble Administrator's Garden - the Water Village Version of "Versailles"
- Features: The leader of Suzhou gardens, covering an area of 78 acres, known as the "King of Waterscapes". There is a lake every three steps and a pavilion every five steps in the park. The East Garden is wild (lawn + pine forest), the Central Garden is fragrant with lotus (you can watch the lotus flowers in Yuanxiang Hall), and the West Garden is gorgeous (you can drink tea and pretend to be aristocrats in the 36th Yuanyang Pavilion).
Must-see: Xiaofeihong Covered Bridge (the vermilion bridge is reflected in the water, and you can get 100 likes if you take a photo and post it on WeChat Moments).
- Complaints: The garden is so big, I suggest you bring your own compass, otherwise you might end up wondering, "Who am I? Where am I? Should I join a tour group?"
2. Lingering Garden - Exquisite Boy's "Space Magic"
- Features: Small and beautiful, featuring "changing scenery with every step". Guanyun Peak (6-meter-high Taihu stone that looks like an abstract sculpture), Hanbi Villa (the wood carvings on the waterside pavilion are so exquisite that you want to steal them home), Wufeng Xianguan (there are so many cultural relics that it feels like you have traveled through a costume drama).
- Hidden skills: The scenery is different in each season. You can enjoy flowers in spring, avoid rain in summer, take pictures of fallen leaves in autumn, and pretend to be Daiyu and bury herself in the snow in winter.
3. Lion Grove Garden - Stone Maze "Escape Room"
- Features: The leader in the rockery world, the stones look like lions in a meeting, and if you go into the cave, you can perform "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" in minutes. It is said that Emperor Qianlong once got lost here for 4 hours and was finally rescued by his guards.
- Warning: Do not enter if wearing high heels! The rockery route is harder to accomplish than the pie in the sky the boss has drawn.
4. Canglang Pavilion: The retired life of the literary and artistic veteran cadres
- Features: The oldest garden in Suzhou (first built in the Northern Song Dynasty), it has no gorgeous waterscapes, and mainly features rocks and bamboo forests. The Canglang Pavilion itself is built on a rockery. It is recommended to recite a poem when you climb up and look into the distance: "Ah, the water of Canglang is clear~" (although the water may not be clear).
- Atmosphere: Suitable for taking photos in Hanfu and pretending to be Su Shi’s neighbor.
5. Wangshiyuan Garden - Mini version of "Jiangnan figurine"**
- Features: Small enough to fit into a backpack, but packed with details! The pavilions and terraces are all built close to the water, and there are Kunqu opera performances in the evening (it is recommended to check the show time in advance, otherwise you can only listen to mosquitoes singing).
- Little-known fact: The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the United States once replicated its "Dianchun Pavilion", making it the first exporter of garden culture.
2. Route planning: How to explore 500 years of history in one day?
Day 1: Humble Administrator's Garden (2 hours) → Lion Grove (1.5 hours, remember to count the stones) → Pingjiang Road (eat Dumb Fried Dumplings to restore blood)
Day 2: Lingering Garden (2 hours) → Xiyuan Temple (cat petting) → Shantang Street (watch lanterns at night and get squeezed into a meat pie)
Day 3 Artistic Version: Canglang Pavilion (1 hour) → Wangshi Garden (1 hour) → Shiquan Street (drink coffee and pretend to be a local)
Traffic Tips:
- If the gardens are close to each other, you can ride shared bicycles (there are no shared electric bikes in Suzhou, so don’t look for them!).
- The starting price for a taxi is 13 yuan, but you may find yourself stuck in traffic near the scenic area and the driver may even recite "Night Mooring at Maple Bridge" with you.
3. Where to live? Choose from "Bankruptcy" to "Versailles"
1. Budget travelers: Pingjiang Road/Guanqian Street Youth Hostel (50 yuan/night, the downside is that you may hear the couple next door quarreling until the early morning).
2. Petty bourgeoisie: Designer hotel next to Jinji Lake (floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of the night view of "Big Underpants", price ≈ half a month's salary).
3. Retro lover: Suzhou-style garden hotel (if you sleep next to the pavilion, mosquitoes may sing "Moonlight over the Lotus Pond" for you).
4. Life-saving precautions
1. Make an appointment! reserve! reserve!
- Grab tickets for Suzhou Museum 6 days in advance (those with slow hands can only cry in front of other people’s Moments).
- You can buy the garden tickets on site, but it is recommended to bring a copy of "Dream of Red Mansions" to pass the time while waiting in line.
2. Scam Prevention Guide
- Are scalpers selling "low-priced tickets" at the entrance of the scenic spot? Run! Their tickets may be more fake than your health code.
- The rickshaw driver said "I'll take you to more interesting spots"? Translation: I'll take you to a shopping store and get a commission.
3. Equipment List
- Sneakers (the path in the garden is as tortuous as my girlfriend’s mind).
- Sunny or rainy umbrella (Suzhou’s weather is more changeable than the idol’s personality).
- Student ID (half price ticket, an old lady who graduated 10 years ago cried).
5. Foodie Radar: What to eat after strolling around the garden?
- Dumb Fried Dumplings: Take a bite and the juice will spray three meters away (be careful not to burn your tongue, don’t ask me how I know).
- Xiangxin Chicken Feet: So glutinous that you want to swallow the bones (Shiquan Street store, remember to count the number of internet celebrities wearing fisherman hats in front of you when you queue up).
- Qiujuan Wonton: A 20-year-old shop with such delicious fillings that one would suspect the owner is not good at math.
6. Travel Mood: Suzhou Limited Edition emoji
- 😌When enjoying the breeze in Yuanxiang Hall of Humble Administrator's Garden: Ah, this is the happiness of the ancient rich!
- 😱When lost in the Lion Grove: Help, have you seen this stone before? !
- 🍃While daydreaming in Canglang Pavilion: I suddenly wanted to quit my job and become a gardener...
- 😎After taking photos at Wangshiyuan Garden: I posted it on WeChat Moments with the caption "A small secret place" (even though I was surrounded by a group of aunties).
(Rolls up sleeves and takes out a foodie map) When Suzhou people make sweets, even ants have to kneel down and call them the ancestors! Keep this "Suzhou Snacks Guide" and bring eight stomachs to fight 👇
🍜Carbon Nuclear Weapons
• Dumb Fried Dumplings: The Hermes of Fried Dumplings! Please be prepared for the juice to spurt out when you bite into it. I was so scalded that I danced a flamenco on the spot (the queue at the Guanqian Street store starts at two hours, so it is recommended to get up early and pretend to be a local)
• Crab Roe Xiaolongbao: The luxurious experience of sip soup with a straw! Remember the motto "lift gently, move slowly, open the window first, drink the soup later", otherwise you will get a T-shirt with ink splashes (Yuxingji Three Shrimp Noodle House can take away)
• Fengzhen Big Meat Noodles: White soup noodles with a fermented rice wine aroma. Fatty lovers should focus on the trembling "collagen waterfall" (Tong Dexing Noodle House summer limited edition)
🍡Nujiji Assassin's League
• Sugar Congee: The wedding of the century between red bean paste and white porridge! Pan Yulin, the owner of the sugar porridge stall, is harder to get an appointment with than Jay Chou. He disappears on time at 3pm (at the entrance of the Pishi Street Flower and Bird Market. It is recommended to bring your own folding stool)
• Chicken head rice sweet soup: Suzhou lady afternoon tea! The chewy little dumplings are actually water lily seeds. Ancient people would never have thought that this thing could be sold for 58 yuan a bowl (available at the art shop on Pingjiang Road)
• Osmanthus Sweet Taro: a dessert that comes with its own BGM! The dense taro soaked in osmanthus honey is so sweet that it requires insulin support (the same as the old lady’s for 5 yuan at the Fengmen Hengjie Vegetable Market)
🦀Dark Treasures
• Noodles and Crab: The scene where June Yellow was kidnapped by dough! The finger-licking level is comparable to the TV series of munching on melon seeds (the secret code for ordering at the Old Suzhou Tea House is "I want the extremely yellow kind")
• Cangshu Lamb Noodles: All those who love to eat lamb in summer are here! Eat mutton and drink mutton soup in dog days, experience the two extremes of ice and fire (look for century-old shops in Taijian Nong Food Street)
• Fermented Rice Cake: The master of drunken boxing who can explode! The rose filling is so fragrant that it makes straight men say sweet words (Caizhizhai freshly baked version yyds)
⚠️Foodie Battle Manual
1️⃣ Avoid the "Internet celebrity bamboo tube milk tea" unless you want to spend 35 yuan on a selfie prop
2️⃣ Please fast forward to the "Suzhou Specialty Store" on Guanqian Street. The real food is hidden in the Fengmen Hengjie Vegetable Market.
3️⃣ When you see a sign that says "Made freshly by the inheritor of intangible cultural heritage", hold on to your wallet, because you may be the 50th generation disciple.
4️⃣ Please repeat "cholesterol is fake" three times before eating butter rice. After all, happiness is priceless.
(Summarizing with tears in her eyes while biting handmade glutinous rice balls) Suzhou people have incorporated the soft Wu dialect into their food; the sweetness is the lingering moonlight over the garden walls, the freshness is the breeze blowing in from Taihu Lake. It is recommended to say "I want to lose weight" three times every morning, noon and evening. After all, even the mosquitoes here have the scent of osmanthus - wait, who ate my last piece of rose-filled fermented rice cake? ! 😭
(Friendly reminder before you walk out with the help of the wall: wear elastic waist pants! Bring stomach-strengthening and digestion-promoting tablets! Muah~)
Finally, a warm reminder: the beauty of Suzhou needs to be savored slowly. Don’t be in a hurry to check in. Take some time to sit in the pavilion and listen to the sound of wind blowing through the bamboo leaves - of course, if the auntie next to you is live streaming "Old iron double-click 666", just ignore what I said. I wish you can find your own Jiangnan dream between the rockery and the lotus pond~ 🌸🚣♀️
(After writing the guide, this travel expert is exhausted, please give me a triple-click to comfort me!)