Suzhou Self-Guided Tour Guide

Suzhou can be considered the representative of the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. It was the cultural and economic center of the ancient people in the south of the Yangtze River. It has a very outstanding historical position. Now Suzhou’s tourism industry is quite developed. It has preserved a large number of Jiangnan garden architectural groups. Below we will share a self-guided tour guide of Suzhou.

The taste of Suzhou is mellow, beautiful, and soft, just like the women of Suzhou: beautiful, graceful, and speaking like singing… Suzhou can be considered one of the most representative of the south of the Yangtze River. No one doesn’t know the Suzhou gardens: the Humble Administrator’s Garden, the Lingering Garden, the Lion Grove Garden, the Retreat Garden…

These gardens integrate architecture, mountains, flowers, wood, carvings, calligraphy and painting, ancient and elegant, quiet and tranquil, as if you are pulled into ancient times, scholars, Lin Daiyu, and even the figure of Emperor Qianlong who visited the Lion Grove Garden several times and inscribed it.

The entire ancient city of Suzhou is located in a network of waterways, streets are built along the river, with alleys in front and rivers behind. This is a unique style of “small bridge, flowing water, houses.”

After visiting the Lion Grove Garden, it is the private garden of the architect I. M. Pei. The most famous inside is the grotesque rocks. Walking through it is like walking into a maze. Climbing up and down along the crowd is really interesting.

In the past, Emperor Qianlong praised the Lion Grove Garden six times when he visited the south of the Yangtze River. He also gave it a plaque and inscribed it. Under the grotesque rocks is a lake, with lotus leaves and many fish in the lake…

The boatman is rowing the boat. Tourists are busy walking around the rugged rocks. The scene is probably only available in the Lion Grove Garden. It is interesting, lively, and famous, but it is not without a touch of tranquility.

The reputation of Hanshan Temple need not be mentioned much. It has a history of more than 1,400 years. Legend has it that the famous monks Hanshan and Shide once lived here and then renamed it Hanshan Temple.

There are many historical sites in the temple, including the stone inscription of Zhang Ji’s poem, the stone statues of Hanshan and Shide, and fragments of stone inscriptions written by Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin.

The Buddhist holy land is for enlightenment and meditation. If your heart is sincere, it will be answered. I bowed three times to the Buddha sincerely, praying for the health and safety of my family for a lifetime…

Finally, I visited Panmen. Panmen is the only surviving water and land-linked city gate in China. It is one of the symbols of Suzhou City. There is a saying: “Looking north at the majestic Great Wall, looking south at the beauty of Panmen.”

After checking into the hotel, I looked out of the window at the ancient city of Suzhou. There are no towering skyscrapers, only low ancient walls and old houses. It is not noisy, and the pace of life in Suzhou is not fast. They quietly enjoy the slow pace of life of “small bridge, flowing water”.

Suzhou is beautiful and graceful like a delicate beauty. This is the strong taste of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

Zhouzhuang: The whole town is built along the river, with bridges and streets connected, and water pavilions along the river. Zhouzhuang retains 14 ancient bridges with distinctive features, geographically located between Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou. It is surrounded by water, with deep houses and courtyards.

There is the symbol of Zhouzhuang – the Double Bridge, the private residence of the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River – Shen’s Residence, one of the Ming Dynasty buildings – Zhang’s Residence, and the Fu’an Bridge, which has stairs on all four corners of the bridge.

Zhouzhuang also has a story about Shen Wansan and Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. Legend has it that Zhu Yuanzhang went to Shen Wansan’s house to “ask for money” under the pretense of having a meal. Because there was a dish on the table that was a specialty of Shen’s family – “pig’s trotters”, which was homophonous with Zhu Yuanzhang’s “Zhu”, it was a big taboo.

When Zhu Yuanzhang asked Shen Wansan the name of the dish, Shen Wansan dared not say “pig’s trotters”. After being embarrassed by the emperor several times, Shen Wansan knelt on the ground, sweating profusely. When his sweat “dripped” onto his own thigh, Shen Wansan suddenly came up with an idea and blurted out to the emperor: “Your Majesty, this dish is called “Wansan Trotters”, specially presented to Your Majesty.”

From then on, “Wansan Trotters” became popular.

It is said that Zhu Rongji once picked up “Wansan Trotters” and answered a phone call on the Fu’an Bridge. It was from the central government to promote Zhu Rongji, who was then the mayor of Shanghai, to the central government. Therefore, the Fu’an Bridge is also known as the “promotion and wealth” bridge.

I carefully visited the Shen’s Residence. It faces south, has seven courtyards and five gate towers, with over 100 rooms distributed on both sides of a 100-meter long central axis.

The murals depict the history of Shen’s family’s rise to wealth. The ingot picture was touched again and again, as if I had already touched the wealth and noble spirit of the Shen’s family.

The labor and wisdom of ancient Han people are something to be admired.

The taste of the south of the Yangtze River is mellow and nostalgic, like poetry and painting, like the graceful and tender woman in our hearts, delicate, flexible and smart, making people linger and savor for a long time.