One Day Bus Tour to Suzhou Classical Gardens and others

As the oldest garden among the existing classical gardens of Suzhou, Canglang Pavilion together with 'Lion Grove', 'Humble Administrator's Garden' and 'Garden for Lingering In.', is praised as the four most famous gardens in Suzhou. It was used as the private garden of a Prince of the Five Dynasties (907-960), thus the designs are of royal flavor.

This 11,000 m2 garden is full of breath of simplicity and serenity, with the rockery and pools as decorations. Over 108 patterns of carvings are applied into the decoration of the walls of the meandering corridor, which are all exquisite and elegant as that of in the traditional gardens.

The inscriptions go harmonious with the typical decorations of the entire garden, such as the poetic couplet carved on both sides of the gate. The key style of the decoration of this garden traces back to the Song Dynasty (960-1234), which together with the green bamboo will make your trip full of sceneries and literary flavor.

Note:
1.The landscape here have different highlights in different seasons and the best time for traveling here is February and October.

2. Take the medicine for preventing the mosquitoes in case of being bite by the mosquitoes, especially in summer.

Opening Hours: 7:30 -- 17: 30

Ticket Price:
15 CNY from October 31 to April 15
20 CNY from April 16 to October 30
Half fare for the people over 60 but less than 70
Free for the disabled, the soldiers, the kids under 1.2 meters and the people over 70

Location: No. 3, Canglang Pavillion Street, Sanyuan Lane, Suzhou

Transportation: Tour Bus No. 2,4 and 5 and Bus No. 1, 5, 27, 30, 39, 101, 102, 103, 218, 261, 308 and 309 will bring you here.
 

Lingering Garden together with 'Lion Grove', 'Humble Administrator's Garden' and Canglang Pavilion, is praised as the four most famous gardens in Suzhou, for their artistic ways of dealing with the spaces between various kinds of architectural form. The garden is divided into four parts, namely the middle, eastern, northern and western, each of which has command of particular sceneries.

The middle part is featured by the water landscapes, which is the essence of the garden. The eastern part consists of idiomatical corridors and yards with picturesque rockery. The northern is full of the countryside flavor with the potted landscapes as decoration. The western is the top of the whole garden, from where you can overlook the entire view of the Lingering Garden.

There are three unique must-visit landscapes in Lingering Garden-- the Cloud Capped Peak, the Nanmu Palace and the Fish Fossil. Cloud Capped Peak is the one and only bizarre stone derived from Taihu Lake in the Song Dynasty (960-1234). Most of the building materials of Nanmu Palace is Nanmu, which is a precious and rare plant. The Fish Fossil, with a thickness of 15 mm and diameter of 1 meter, is a natural fossil transit from Yunnan to Suzhou, on which there is a natural picture of landscape painting.

Opening Hours: 7:30 -- 17:00

Ticket Price:
30 CNY from October 31 to April 15
40 CNY from April 16 to October 30

Location: No. 302, Liuyuan Road, Jinchang District, Suzhou

Transportation: Tour Bus No. 1, 3 and 5, Bus No. 6, 7, 22, 33, 44, 70, 85, 88, 91, 101 and 103 will bring you here.
 

Humble Administrator's Garden, the largest garden in Suzhou covering 52000 m², is 500 years old. It is known for the typical and luxurious designs. Located in the Oriental Venice, Humble Administrator's Garden is featured by the water landscape that occupies three fifths of the entire garden, which is a reflection of special customs and culture in the south area of Yangtze River. Humble Administrator's Garden is representative of Chinese classical gardens in the Ming Dynasty, which is focused on a central pond with pavilions, terraces, chambers, and towers located nearby.

In this magnificent garden, the typical artificial landscapes, the rockery islands, the bamboo castles, the pine hills and meandering streams are so attractive and characterized that it is praised as the Model of the Garden. Elaborately conceived, the designer of the garden used the architecture technique know as 'borrowed view from afar' in the layout of this part, aiming to enlarge eyeshot within a limited space. Seen westward, a pagoda would be seen sitting in western garden, which actually is situated 1 km away from the garden.

 

Humble Administrator's Garden, the dwelling house of the famous poet Lu Guimeng in Tang Dynasty (618-907), is divided into four parts: the eastern, middle, western parts and the part for dwelling, in which arts of architecture, calligraphy, carving, painting and bonsai are the main decorations.

Note: The best time for traveling here is spring, summer and autumn, but not the Chinese holidays.

Opening Hours:　 8:15--17:30

Ticket Price:　
50 CNY from October 31 to April 15
70 CNY from April 16 to October 30
Free for the disabled, the soldiers, the kids under 1.2 meters and the people over 70

Location: No. 178, Dongbei Street, Pingjiang District, Suzhou

Transportation: Tour Bus No. 1, 2 and 5, and Bus No. 50, 55, 178, 202, 262, 309, 529, 331, 518 and 923 will bring you here.

Built in 1342 during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) by Monk Tianru and a group of Zen Buddhist disciples as a memorial of their master-Monk Zhongfeng, Lion Grove Garden has witnessed 650 years’ changes. As one of the four famous Chinese gardens (together with Lingering Garden, Humble Administrator's Garden and Canglang Pavilion), Lion Grove Garden covers 11,000 m².

 

Hailed as the Kingdom of the Rockery, Lion Grove Garden is full of lifelike rockeries that are of colorful shapes and complex postures. Plenty of rockeries are actually from North Song Dynasty (960-1127), which has been turned into various delicate patterns under the design of the skillful artisans. In the last reconstruction, some western styles and Chinese folk artistries are introduced into this Buddhist garden to make more charming and natural.

In this maze-like garden, Chinese traditional culture and literary works are one of the features. On the walls of the corridors, the calligraphies of the four eminent calligraphers in Song Dynasty (960-1234) are carved, and around the garden scriptures of the Buddhist classics can be seen, which provides you a chance of learning the Chinese cultures while enjoy the landscapes.

 

The water and rockeries form a beautiful contrast that is the key tone of the garden, which is the original model of some royal gardens. Rockeries together with water, bamboo grove, pavilions, meandering corridors and green plant formed a refreshing and nature-like resort where you can spend your expedition.

Opening Hours: 8:00--17:00

Ticket Price:
20 CNY from October 31 to April 15
30 CNY from April 16 to October 30
Free for the disabled, the soldiers, the kids under 1.2 meters and the people over 70

Location: No. 23, Yuanlin Road, Jiangping District, Suzhou

Transportation: Tour Bus No. 1, 2 and 5, and Bus No. 2, 3, 40, 55, 313, 301, 529 and 923 will bring you here.
 

Built in the Song Dynasty (960-1234), Garden of Master of the Nets is as old as 800 years and is as big as one sixth of the Humble Administrators’ Garden, covering 8800 m2. Small as it is, the landscapes it owns are so impressive that many Chinese celebrities have lived in or near the garden. The master of the Chinese Traditional Paintings, Zhang Daqian, has ever lived in and created many masterpieces.
 
It is a symbol of the classical gardens of small and medium size, which has the exquisite designs and sophisticated layout. Once entering into the garden, you will impressed by the harmonious decorations and architectures inside, which will create an illusion that the garden is much greater than it is.

Despite of the small size, it possesses lots of highlights, among which the Dian Chun-yi, a cabin made of bamboo that covers less than 600 m2, is the impressive one. Dian Chun-yi has been imitated for more than once in the design of splendid garden all over the world, such as the Yiyuan Garden in Canada in 1986, the Yunxiuyuan Garden in Singapore in 1992 and the Jixingyuan Garden in America in 1998 etc. Therefore, it is safe to say that it is the garden with the delicate designs.

Opening Hours: 8:00 -- 22:00

Ticket Price:
15 CNY from October 31 to April 15
30 CNY from April 16 to October 30

Location: No. 11, North Yinxing Bridge, Canglang District, Suzhou

Transportation: Bus No. 204, 511, 47, 501, 202 and 931 will bring you here.

Hanshan Temple, built in Liang Dynasty (502-557) and reconstructed in Tang Dynasty (618-907), derived the name from the abbot, who named Hanshan. Having come through 1400 years’ changes, Hanshan Temple has appealed to a growing number of people for its features and historic significance.

The architectures inside are of great value in art and of unusual features, among which the Hualan Lou is worthy of a visit. The Hualan Lou is supported by only two backbones, which just like the handle of the flower basket. It is a reflection of the Chinese traditional architecture style and sophisticated skills. Surprisingly, the screwing up stairs is holds with only one single column with exquisite carvings on.

Seen from the Maple Bridge, Hanshan Temple impresses people with the yellow walls, green glazed roof and the towering old pines. On entering the temple, the delicate scriptures and magnificent architectures will catch your eyes. What’s more, the meanderings will lead you to the Buddhist halls, where you can admire the Buddhist classics and true-to-life sculptures.
 
The most popular activity held here is the Bell-hitting Ceremony on the December 31-- the eve of the New Year, on when people from near and far come here to experience the 108 hits on the bell and do the count down. The bell is a gift from Japan, which was made together with the one in the Guanshan Temple in Japan in the year 1906.

Note: The best time for traveling here is from April to October. 　

Opening Hours: 7:30 -- 17:00

Ticket Price:
20 CNY for the entrance
Free for the children below 1.2 meters
380 CNY for the Bell-hitting Ceremony on the eve of the New Year

Location: Maple Bridge Town, Suzhou (5 km away from the Suzhou City)

Transportation: Tour Bus No. 3 and Bus 6, 9, 17, 21, 31, 301 and 313 will bring you to Maple Bridge.

Tiger Hill was not the Tiger Hill before the King of the Wu Kingdom buried his father here. It is said that three days after the burial, a tiger appeared before the tomb, so people named it the present name --Tiger Hill. This 36-meter-high hill with 1000,000 m² of area is one of the most popular resorts in Suzhou, where is praised as the must-visit-place in Suzhou by Su Dongpo, an eminent poet in North Song Dynasty (960-1127).

The architectures are the main cultural relics in Tiger Hill, which goes pretty well with the circumstance around. Most of the architectures here, including tower, palace, bridge, pavilion and tomb, were built in the ancient time, some are in Five Dynasties (907-979), some are in Song Dynasty (960-1234) and Yuan Dynasty (1206-1370), the other are in Ming Dynasty (1364-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). The architecture designs are of great significance in the development of Chinese architecture.

 

The most attractive scene is the 48-meter-tall Yunyan Tower, which is hailed as the Oriental Leaning Tower of Pisa, while the most mysterious one is the Sword Pool (Jian Chi), where is said hides a secret behind the tomb of the King of Wu State.

Tiger Hill is lively place where many festivals and celebrations are hold. The Flower Festival in spring, the local temple fair in autumn and the Tourism Festival of Suzhou are included. Thus it is a good place to go for you expedition of Chinese culture and customs.

Opening Hours:
7:30--17:30 (from March 1 to November 15)
7:30--17:00 (from November 16 to February 29)

Ticket Price:
40 CNY from October 31 to April 15
60 CNY from April 16 to October 30
Free for the disabled, the soldiers, the kids under 1.2 meters and the people over 70

Location: At the end of Tiger Hill Road, Suzhou

Transportation: Toru Bus No. 1 and 2, and Bus No. 32, 146, 816 and 949 will bring you here.
 

Zhouzhuang, an ancient town with a history more than 900 years, is praised as the Water State for it is surrounded by clear and peaceful water. Most of roads are waterways that link all the buildings up, in which boats shuttle back and forth fluently, on which stone bridges lying there leisurely and along which ancient architectures are shinning with local flavors. It is safe to say that Zhouzhuang is a much pretty place for people to live in and travel around.
 
As a coastal town, Zhouzhuang has its edges in the exchanges of culture and business. Thus in this peaceful town, you can experience many colorful cultures and customs, among which the most traditional one is “Yao Kuai Chuan” -- a local boat race, and “Da Tian Cai” -- a local blessing activity. Zhouzhuang, a Five-star scenic spot, was reputed as the Famous Historic Cultural Town in China in 2003, and has been enjoying many reputations as follows.

The World U.N. Cultural Heritage
The World’s Most Attractive Water Land
Top 10 Favorite Resorts for the European
Top 50 Resorts Worthy of Visiting for Foreigner
The Model of Environment Improvement Prize of Dubai Awarded by U.N.

Opening Hours: 8:00--15:00 (day trip) 15:00--20:00 (night trip)

Ticket Price:
100 CNY for day trip
80 CNY for night trip
40 CNY for boat trip around the town
Free for the children below one meter
Half fare for the kids between 1 and 1.4 meter, and the people between 60 and 70 years old.

Location: Kunshan City, Suzhou

Transportation: Tour bus and shuttle bus from Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou and Zhejiang will bring you here.