Suzhou, China

[ValenciaQBowl]

Howdy, Quiz Bowl!

My wife is traveling to Suzhou (apparently the "Venice of China"!), in the Shanghai Municipality, for a week starting on November 1. She's going to represent Valencia in a study abroad conference for community colleges, but she's going to have a full day free, as well as a couple hours on the other days. Of course, we've done plenty of reading, but on the off chance that anyone here has ever been, I'm curious if there are any suggestions of must-see sites (it seems like Suzhou is all about gardens!) or best-choice restaurants. I'm guessing this is probably unlikely, but if you have any thoughts, I'd be happy to hear them. Thanks!

[UlyssesInvictus]

I remember that there was some tower here that had a fairly impressive view, along with interesting folklore adorning it (though attempting to get that out of the badly translated Chinese-to-English in these places might not go well). Wikipedia tells me it's the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Hill_Pagoda, so go there, I guess?

Oh, and wash your hands before eating in any of the Chinese restaurants. Like, thoroughly. Bring your own toilet paper as well.

[Masked Canadian History Bandit]

The gardens are definitely the best part of Suzhou and have architecture from the last four Chinese dynasties. The Humble Administrator's garden was my favourite, but they were all great. I remember at one of the gardens there was a bridge where Empress Dowager Cixi reportedly loved to use to see her reflection below while washing her hair, and that inspired her to reconstruct parts of Suzhou in the Summer Palace.

There's a saying in China that goes something like "There is heaven above, and below there is Suzhou and Hangzhou." If you can fit in the gardens in the non-dark free hours that you have, I would suggest taking the time to go to Hangzhou and see West Lake over there.

[Kyle]

My traveling bear went to Suzhou in December. He enjoyed visiting the gardens. To be honest, they really are the main attraction in Suzhou, but the nice part is that the different gardens were constructed in dramatically different styles.

[Beevor Feevor]

Oh boy, I've never been quite so excited for a thread on these forums in my life. Suzhou is where my family is from, and I've visited it many a time; trust me, you guys are in for a treat! I last went back the summer before my freshman year of high school, so some of it may be outdated, but I can share what I liked when I was there.

Jinji Lake has some really cool fountain shows and a very nice lakefront to walk or bike on, if you're into that sort of thing. Both the New District and the Industrial Park are very western-looking, clean, and accessible, so they're there for those who aren't always looking for stereotypical "garden variety" (literally) Suzhou. All of the gardens are, of course, fantastic. I don't know how foreigners would like it, or if new development has sprung up in the area since I've last been there, but my favorite thing to do when I visited Suzhou last time was just to wander the side streets off of the main roads with little channels next to them. In the daytime, they're extremely safe, as far as I know, and give a break from always being around crowded areas with people oohing and aahing everywhere.

Boat rides! Take them during the evening, since everything's neon in Suzhou, and they'll definitely be a nice treat. Under bridges, through developments, back to old parts, all of it is a lot of fun. Renmin Road (which is near where the bulk of my family lives) is very walkable, and there's a very nice mall near there whose name escapes me where you can get a lot of good stuff (for an admittedly steeper price, but the experience is totally worth it).

Do be careful about pickpockets on buses and while walking in the road; Suzhou's very big and crowded, so it definitely might happen. My aunt's electric scooter has been stolen from under her eyes before, and she's a very watchful person. I'd advise not bringing too much of your cash on you just in case. Also, this may sound strange if you haven't been to China before, but do bring some toilet paper on your person or something along those lines. I'm hoping it's gotten a little better since I was last there, but that would be quite unfortunate if it were to happen.

[ValenciaQBowl]

Man, what an embarrassment of riches! Thanks, y'all, for the excellent ideas (and love the pictures, Kyle--I'll share those with my wife tonight).

Alas, I'm not going (somebody gotta watch the kid, feed the animals), but this advice will help Karen a lot in her planning. We already had the Tiger Hill Pagoda on her agenda, and the boat ride in the evening sounds like a good idea. And toilet paper--yeah, probably wouldn't have thought of that. Awesome, thanks again to all of you!

[Capricious]

I visited Sichuan (My birthplace), the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area, and of course, Beijing over the summer.

The first rule of China is that you will get diarrhea, do not be apprehensive about this. Instead, welcome the harmonious bacteria of the rich 5000 year civilization of the greatest country and the glorious CCCP into your system. Avoid eating at places too sketch to minimize symptoms. I was coerced into dining at a "Nong Jia Le" AKA a rural affluent-farmer run establishment hosting city-folk like us, and luckily escaped with only three days of food poisoning. Hence as was advised, toilet paper is a must.

The second rule of China is do not trust anyone. Arriving at the Hangzhou station by high-speed rail from Ningbo, we were propositioned by what is known as "Hei Che" or unlicensed cabs, basically a minivan operated by your average Nong. Instead, you would do better to take the brightly painted and clearly marked syndicated taxis. Once aboard, you may marvel at the audaciousness of your driver and his great dexterity and skill as he avoids the very diverse types of vehicles and humans on the roads without traffic rules. Also note that honking one's horn is not seen as rude but is rather a form of greeting and a sort of existential declaration that "I am here."

I didn't stay in Suzhou for long, so I can only echo what was already said about the picturesque Song dynasty-era Old Town on PingJiang Road. Walking in the rain aside the canals laced with willows, stopping at various restaurants and art venues was the best part of Suzhou. There might be some museum dedicated to the famous poet Su Dongpo? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Shi

I can personally recommend the West Lake in Hangzhou and the Sun Zhongshan and Nanjing Massacre memorials in Nanjing. The major cities of the Jiangsu-ZheJiang area are all linked by cheap and comfortable high-speed rail.

At risk of turning this into a China thread, I'm going to plug my province of SIchuan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiuzhaigou Jiuzhaigou National Park is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Within, you find yourself transported to a pristine China of nostalgia spoken of in the legends, arts and poems where land and water mix together. Even the landscape surrounding the airport is awe-inspiring. Because of the proximity to Tibet, the yak are both quaint when they are herded across the mountainous roads and delicious. Thanks to having connections to the local A Ba County leaders, we were able to avoid the throngs of tourists huddled at the gates of the park and ride in state-sponsored vehicles. Is this corruption? Perhaps.

Other places in Sichuan I recommend include
Huanglong national reserve, the little brother to Jiuzhaigou
the towns devastated by the 2008 earthquake
the Leshan Giant Buddha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshan_Giant_Buddha
Mt. Emei where you can float amidst the sea of clouds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Emei
The Chengdu Huan Qiu Zhong Xin, a huge mall proudly proclaimed as the world's largest building by some category. http://baike.baidu.com/view/4575334.htm
The Giant Panda Research Base
Visting the villages of China's minority ethnic groups, such as the Tibetans and the Qiang. Please note that all 56 of China's ethnic groups are seen as equal and are not discriminated against in any way *wink*.

Remember that the Diaoyu Islands and the entirety of the South China Sea and associated resource claims belong and always will belong to the PRC.

[ValenciaQBowl]

Thanks, Joe! I have emphasized to the wife that bringing a couple rolls of TP is critical; your message just firmed that up (ho, ho!). But I can't tell her what y'all are saying about diarrhea; it's hard enough to get her to eat "exotic" foods when we travel--she'll end up eating at a McDonald's every day.

[johntait1]

Wow that's really cool, part of my family is from Suzhou and I've been there a few times. Unfortunately I haven't been there in the last few years so I don't have the most up to date stuff.
My favorite place to visit were the gardens like mentioned earlier, they have a really nice environment. My favorite one was a "lions forest" in chinese; I'm not sure how that translates to English. I liked it a lot because it was a almost maze-like structure that was fun to walk around in.
Overall one of the stuff I liked the most was the general environment of the city; it was pretty fun just to walk around the nicer parts and look at the sights. Also, my favorite stuff for Chinese candy was somewhere called "Cai Zi Zhai" http://renaissance-hotels.marriott.com/ ... hai-suzhou If you want to try some nice Chinese sweets I'd definitely reccomend it. Cheers, and I hope you enjoy your time there!

[Andre97]

Suzhou is just a stone's throw from Shanghai. If you got the time, visiting Shanghai's Bund is very much worth the experience! You could even visit Shanghai American School (apparently the old campus is a certified tourist attraction). Anyways, to get back to Suzhou. Here are a couple things I've noticed about tourism:

1. Take care of your belongings. Thieves are widespread and are shameless in their pursuit of your wallet. To put this in perspective: My grandmother was robbed while praying in church. In particular, I'd be careful around beggars. Many often fake injuries to attract unwary victims.

2. I've honestly never had any problems with food, since I tend to stay away from street food. That being said, I've tried my fair share of what many would view as "exotic" food. Especially if you're on the more squeamish side, stay away from food branded as either very oily or very spicy. In my experience, those seem to cause the most problems. Of course, it never hurts to be careful about everything you eat. Hygiene is key here. Fun story: One of my relatives who visited us bought pork buns that actually had cardboard instead of meat. It tasted identical to the real thing, and they only found out after they read a newspaper article on it.

3. Be wary of the quality of stuff. It doesn't really matter if you're buying cheap souvenirs, but I would just avoid buying anything expensive. Also, try and haggle down prices as much as you can, especially if you are buying in bulk. As a rule of thumb, shop keepers will stop you when you try to leave if the price is still feasible for them.

Despite all the crazy stuff that goes on here, China is still a great place to visit! Just be a little more on your guard than usual, and you'll be fine. If you want any recommendation for Shanghai, I'd love to help :)

[at your pleasure]

1. Take care of your belongings. Thieves are widespread and are shameless in their pursuit of your wallet. To put this in perspective: My grandmother was robbed while praying in church. In particular, I'd be careful around beggars. Many often fake injuries to attract unwary victims.

I'm sure there's a robbing peter to pay paul joke here somewhere.