SarahI was invited on this trip by the tourism board of Suzhou. There was no obligation for a publication and all opinion are my personal view. I will always and ever write how I experienced a place – no matter if self-paid or sponsored.
The first thing that comes to people’s mind when they think of China – and particularly its big cities like Bejing or Shanghai – is probably not “Green Oasis”. And while these big cities definitely have a problem with air pollution – China completely surprised me on a recent trip!
In June 2019 I was invited by the local tourism boards to visit the cities of Suzhou and Nanjing together with some other travel bloggers and Instagrammers. Suzhou was the first city we traveled too – and I will call it “the Green Heart of China” now! Suzhou has myriads of beautiful Chinese gardens (many of them being UNESCO World heritage sites) – and there was no visible pollution at all!
I still vividly remember the grey haze that was covering the sky all the time when Markus and I visited Shanghai in 2018 for the first time. If only we had known about Suzhou at that time! In fact, Suzhou is only about half an hour from Shanghai by high speed rail – making Suzhou a perfect day trip from Shanghai as well!
In case you are wondering what do in Shanghai – I also got a post with some tips for you!
Read: Best things to do in Shanghai
But back to Suzhou: As you may know, I always try to find great places to take pictures for my Instagram account @fernwehsarah – and Suzhou has plenty of insta-worthy photo locations!
In order to make it more easy for you, I created a list of the most instagrammable places in Suzhou – and I even marked them on Google Maps so that you can find them when traveling to Suzhou!
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Pinjiang Street
Pinjiang Street is a beautiful pedestrian street in Suzhou running along a small canal. Visiting Pinjiang Street for sure is one of the must-do things to do in Suzhou!
You will find multiple bridges running over the canal and almost each of them is highly instagrammable! I found the one next to the tea house to be the prettiest one! But if this one is too crowded, you can easily choose another one too!
Also, Pinjiang Street has multiple incredibly cute shops, flowery cafes and lots of pink wall decor in both shops as well as restaurants.
The coolest store in my opinion is the ice cream parlor with highly insta-worthy ice cones in various colors with crazy decoration. There are actually two of these instagrammable ice cream shops on Pinjiang Street – it’s pretty easy to spot them while walking around Pinjiang Street!
Oh, and by the way: All these cool shots of me in China were taken by Lina (www.petitchapeau.de) or Laura (www.laurasjournal.de) – you should definitely check their Instagram accounts and blogs too – these girls rock!)
Back to Pinjiang street: The old tea house itself is also extremely pretty and works as a beautiful backdrop for pictures too. Take your time to drink a tea there (sadly, they serve it in normal glasses) and then find a spot at the window to get your next Instagram shot!
Just take your time to wander around this pedestrian street – it’s one of the best things to do in Suzhou and you will find a lot of authentic historic places here next to really hip, modern shops!
Gardens of Suzhou
As mentioned in the beginning, Suzhou is a garden city and full of beautiful Chinese landscaped gardens. If you are wondering what to do in Suzhou, the answer is pretty simple: Visit some of its gardens! These gardens offer multiple photo opportunities – but be warned, they can get really crowded!
Humble Administrator’s Garden
Especially if you plan to visit the highly insta-worthy Humble Administrator’s Garden, you should arrive really early and bring some patience until nobody is blocking your picture anymore.
Also, you need to book your ticket online in advance now due to the sheer volume of (local) tourists! Unfortunately, it is not that easy to book online tickets for Humble Administrator’s Garden currently: the official online system is in Chinese only – use Chrome and Google Translate to navigate your way around the site!
Master of Net’s Garden
Another super beautiful garden in Suzhou is the Master of Nets Garden – and it is another UNESCO World Heritage Site too!
You can visit the Garden at day for 40 CNY (~6$) or during the night for 100 CNY (15$). During the night, they perform a unique version of an opera in the garden. You will walk along the different areas of the garden and stop at various spots were dancers, singers or musicians will perform for a few minutes. It’s a continuous story that is explained by a guide (also in English!) and it’s 100% one of the best things to do in Suzhou!
As we only visited during the night for the show, we did not take a lot of Instagram shots here. But I can promise you that this is a highly instagrammable place in daylight too!
Jinji Lake
Jinji Lake is a gigantic inner city lake and it is super beautiful and instaworthy, especially at golden hour / sunset time!
There is one particular bridge that was recommended by our guide when we visited Suzhou and I can only agree with him that it is particularly instagrammable! And the best: it is totally unknown and almost no one is there! Yes, beautiful Instagram photo spots existing without the crowds in China too! 😉
Shan Tan Street
Shan Tan Street is another really pretty pedestrian street in Suzhou! I marked down two photo spots on the map that I think are particularly instaworthy – but there are more to discover for yourself!
You can also go on a boat trip along the canals of Suzhou from here. Tickets are sold on the spot for 55 CNY (~8$) – this will offer you a totally different perspective on this beautiful part of Suzhou!
Unfortunately you are not allowed to sit at the tip of the boat – but you can still take gorgeous photos from the door!
Where to stay in Suzhou
During my trip to China we stayed at Suzhou Garden Hotel – and I was more than surprised on how beautiful this hotel was! It is a perfect combination of traditional Chinese architecture and modern hotel standards.
The bathrooms were crisp clean and definitely very modern and the room had a distinct Chinese style. For me, the bed was a bit hard, but definitely no big issue. Breakfast is mainly Chinese / Asian style, but you will also find fresh fruits and some bakery.
In my opinion, the biggest benefit about staying at Suzhou Garden Hotel was its immediate proximity to the Master of Nets Garden – and its own beautiful landscaped gardens!
Pro tip: Bring a SWIMCAP if you plan to use the pool – it’s a “Chinese thing” with pools that I already encountered when I stayed at Miramar Garden Hotel in Taipei (although you can purchase one should you have forgotten it).
Shanghai to Suzhou by train
The easiest way for you to get to Suzhou is probably by taking the train from Shanghai.
The train runs approximately 180 times per day from Shanghai to Suzhou! And depending on the train, the trip takes only between 23-30 minutes by high-speed rail!
Suzhou actually has two railway stations – Suzhou (North) Railway Station and Suzhou New District. You want to take the one going to Suzhou (North) Railway Station as it is much closer to all tourist attractions.
China’s train system knows three classes: Second class, first class and business class (most expensive) – it’s totally fine to go with second class. Based on whether your train is a D or G train (speed), prices will change – D trains are slower and cheaper.
Based on your choice of tickets, the trip from Shanghai to Suzhou by train (or vice versa) will cost you from 17 CNY (~2.5 $, D train, 2nd class) to 128 CNY (~ 19$, G train, business class) – train travel is not expensive in China!
My favorite resource to check about train travel around the world is Seat61 – and of course he has covered China as well!
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This article contains affiliate links. That means, if you choose to purchase a product or stay at a hotel I recommended, I get a small commission for that at no extra cost for you. I always only recommend products or places that I am personally convinced about – rest assured about that!
