2 Days Suzhou & Tongli Water Town Discovery Tour

From
$ 120

Duration: 2 days

Destinations:
Suzhou, Tongli
-- Pingjiang Street Rickshaw Tour
-- Suzhou Pingtan
-- Lion Grove Garden
-- Tongli Water Town

Departure date: As you prefer

Availability: Whole year

Tour Code: CTG-SZ02

Lion Grove Garden, realm of rockery
The lake and lakeside rockery at Lion Grove Garden
Suzhou Pingtan performance
Old lane and leisurely life at Pingjiang Street
Riverside pavilion for relaxation at Pingjiang Street
Panmen Gate
Tongli Water Town
Cute cormorants on the boat, Tongli Water Town

Tour Description

The tour is all about the splendid scenery and lovely lifestyle at the garden city Suzhou and water town Tongli. Present are the amazing way the locals build their gardens, yards, bridges and streets along the river as well as the detailed style they eat, wear and entertain.

Taste Suzhou's glamour at tea house where Suzhou Pingtan is performed.

Have fun cruising along the canal of Tongli Water Town and feasting the splendid scenery.

Appreciate Lion Grove Garden, one of the four most famous classic gardens of Suzhou.

Have a great time touring around Pingjiang Old Town of Suzhou by rickshaw.

Daily Itinerary
Accommodation
Meals

Comments

Day 1 Lingering Garden - Panmen Gate - Rickshaw Tour - Suzhou Silk Factory - Suzhou Pingtan ( Lunch)

Today's Activities

After railway station pick-up and hotel transfer, you’ll begin your exploration of Suzhou with the famous Lion Grove Garden (Shizilin in Chinese). The 650-year-old garden (the eldest among Suzhou gardens) boasts not the elaborate halls, pavilions, bridges, lakes, plants that you can also find a lot in other gardens of Suzhou but the unbelievable lakeside rocks and rockeries. It’s quite thrilling to drill into the labyrinth-like rockeries and try your way out. Tips: Better wear sneakers for safety.

Then turn to another historical symbol in Suzhou, Panmen Gate. The grand gate is part of the ancient city wall (built in 514 B.C.) and received restoration in 1351 (during Yuan Dynasty ) . March to the top of the gate tower and feast the fabulous view of the well-maintained Suzhou old town. Then go on with an insightful rickshaw tour around Pingjiang Old Street where the old lifestyle and everyday elements are kept to the utmost. To the leisurely pace of the rickshaw you’ll go past the vegetable market, the unpolished streets and traditional residents as well as the simple happy locals who enjoy every minute home. You’ll also see how the exquisite silk garment Suzhou people wear is produced at Suzhou Silk Factory. Before you are the interesting procession from silk worm to the final product, the interesting traditional spinning wheel and so forth.

End today’s tour with an amazing spell of appreciating Suzhou Pingtan(Suzhou Story Telling and Ballad Singing) while sipping savory Chinese tea at the tea house. The performers, dressed in traditional costumes, would sing out the legends in graceful Suzhou dialect and to the leisurely rythem of traditional musical instrument. You can never find more splendid melody elsewhere!

Highlights


Stone Boat at Lion Grove Garden	Panmen Gate	Old spinning wheels in Suzhou Silk Factory

Day 2 Suzhou - Tongli Water Town - Suzhou - Departure (Breakfast, Lunch)

Today's Activities

The day is all about water town! Drive about 30 minutes from downtown Suzhou and you get the most famous over-1,000-year-old Tongli Water Town. You’ll be cruising along the waterway to see refined black-and-white blocks of folk houses, various looks of bridges and undisturbed local custom.

Apart from the cruise, you also have free time to explore this old town. Recommended attractions are: Tuisi Garden, Three Bridges (Taiping, Jili, and Changqing Bridges), Chongben Hall, Jia yin Hall, Mingqing Street, Dingzi (T-shaped) River. At late afternoon. You’ll wave goodbye to Tongli and return to Suzhou Railway Station for your next destination..

Highlights


Morning view of Tongli Water Town	The commonest bridge in Tongli Water Town	Peaceful life in Tongli Water Town

Package Details

Tour Package Includes:
Dining: 1 breakfast and 2 lunches	Admissions: Entrance fee to all scenic spots listed in itinerary
Tour Guide: a local experienced English-speaking guide	Hotels: Accommodation in Suzhou
Vehicle: a private air-conditioned car, offering Round-trip transfers	Car Driver: an experienced licensed driver
Water & Tissues: free purified water and tissues offered per day;	Luggage Transfers: a hand for your heavy luggage;
Insurance: Travel Agencies Liability Insurance;	Government taxes & Service charges
Tour Package Excludes:
- Other optional tours / meals / flights not mentioned in itinerary;	- Tips for tour guides and drivers.

Hotels in Suzhou

Pan Pacific Hotel Suzhou: Boasting unique Chinese architectural grandeur and exquisite garden features, Pan Pacific Hotel Suzhou is the ideal venue to for a rejuvenating retreat while indulging into the profound Chinese culture. 481 uniquely designed guestrooms are endowed with modern facilities and comforts, together with Pan Pacific's renowned personalized service, expect a memorable experience in Suzhou.

Garden Hotel Suzhou: Situated in western Suzhou, Garden Hotel is a 4-star stylish hotel with a preferable position. Just 10-minute drive from Guanqian Street, the hotel is equipped with well-appointed rooms with spacious area, modern decoration and free WIFI. With high-end services provided, Garden Hotel also offers many entertainment choices for guest, such as Karaoke, cycling and fitness center, etc.

Traveller Inn Gusu Suzhou: Traveller Inn Gusu Suzhou is a 3-star hotel, located in the heart of the city, with 108 guest rooms. Hotel's Restaurants offer Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine. Many other facilities are provided to make your stay as comfortable as possible. The hotel also has a shopping center, a ballroom, and a bar and provides all kinds of services such as mailing, clinic, massage, laundry, and car rental. This hotel is neighbors the tourism center and famous parks of the city. <<<<<<< .mine

Meals as mentioned in the itinerary include 1 breakfast provided by the hotel and 2 lunches.
You are free to make dinner arrangements by yourself.

Suzhou

Suzhou cuisine is renowned for its unique sweet flavor, color and aroma, and it's always beautifully presented. Some of the best local dishes are songshu Guiyu (Stewed and Fried Mandarin Fish), Xiangyou Shanhu (Stewed Shredded Eel), Xigua Ji (Chicken Steamed in Watermelon Rind), etc.


Songshu Guiyu (Stewed and Fried Mandarin Fish)	Xiangyou Shanhu (Stewed Shredded Eel)

Your Add On:

Comments

Hi Choury,

We thoroughly enjoyed beautiful Suzhou. The guide was there to meet us at the train station. I do have a comment to make of Mike, our guide. On the first day, he was not very chatty, he said he had a late night out the previous night before. He was not familiar with my itinerary, and had to read through it and still miss out the canal cruise. I had to point that out to him.

On the second day, Mike made up for everything. He was a lot more chatty and took us to a proper restaurant. He and the driver were very accommodating to take us to a couple of extra sightseeing places and drop us off at the station.

Overall, it was a very pleasant experience. The accommodation at Pan Pacific is excellent.

Once again, thank you for a very pleasant experience with China Tour.

Cheers

Customer:Mr. Tan

Destinations: Suzhou

Hello Choury,

Suzhou is a beautiful place and we have great tour guide, Mike and the driver is great! We totally enjoy Suzhou and the tour guide Mike (Chen Ping) really looks after us. He is a typically tour guide that I have seen over these 10 years to china. He is worth a praised! Because of Mike, we have enjoyed Suzhou so much that we are planning to go back soon. Mike has a great history background of Suzhou and he even made an effort to find out more history of the Great Canal that we are visiting via his wife who is a history teacher. We are impressed with his initiative and the love he has for his work! He swapped our itinerary due to the time of the week and making us feel special as there are many occasions that the places we went at that time do not have many other visitors and we can enjoy the place leisurely and comfortably. We will recommend you to use him often as a tour guide for your other customers.

Thank you,

Customer:Ms. Montarroyos

Destinations: Suzhou

Related Tour: 2 Days Suzhou Local Tour

More comments »

Back top