Suzhou first, because gardens reward a fresh morning and Nanjing rewards a slower one. Both cities are walked and metro'd; in Nanjing especially, do not take a taxi — the old streets are narrow and almost all one-way, and a car turns a fifteen-minute trip into forty. The train between them runs every few minutes.
At a glance
- Day 1Humble Administrator's Garden → Suzhou Museum → Pingjiang Road
- Day 2Lingering Garden → Shantang Street → Tiger Hill → Nanjing
- Day 3Ming Xiaoling → Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum → Confucius Temple → the Qinhuai
- Day 4Zhonghua Gate → Xuanwu Lake → the Massacre Memorial
Day 1
Two gardens, and the lane between them
Humble Administrator's Garden → Suzhou Museum → Pingjiang Road
Book the Humble Administrator's Garden ahead and go at opening — it is the largest and the most photographed of the classical gardens and by ten it is a queue moving through a corridor. The Suzhou Museum is next door, free, booked, and I M Pei's last building: white walls and grey edges doing what the gardens do with rock and water. Then Pingjiang Road, a canal with a lane beside it, for the afternoon and a bowl of Suzhou noodles. Do not buy anything at the garden exits; the same umbrella is a third cheaper two streets away.
Day 2
The quieter garden, the hill, and the train
Lingering Garden → Shantang Street → Tiger Hill → Nanjing
The Lingering Garden holds half the people of the Humble Administrator's and, for many people, more of the pleasure — rockery, water, and timber halls opening onto both. Shantang Street runs north-west from it along a canal to Tiger Hill and its leaning pagoda, and is a walk rather than a shopping trip. Ignore the pedicabs calling ten yuan a ride: the price is per cart, not per person, and the five-yuan 'silk culture experience' they add is a delivery to a factory shop. Take an afternoon train; Nanjing is ninety minutes.
Day 3
Purple Mountain, and the river quarter at night
Ming Xiaoling → Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum → Confucius Temple → the Qinhuai
The eastern hills hold both tombs and the walk between them is the point: the spirit way to Ming Xiaoling, stone animals under old trees, then the long granite stair up to Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum. Take the metro out and the park shuttle between them. In the evening, the Confucius Temple quarter and the Qinhuai River — lanterns on the water, and a boat if the queue is short. Eat salted duck and duck-blood soup, which is better than it sounds and the thing Nanjing actually eats.
Day 4
The wall, the lake, and what the city remembers
Zhonghua Gate → Xuanwu Lake → the Massacre Memorial
Zhonghua Gate is the deepest surviving city gate in China — four courtyards of brick built to swallow an army — and you can walk the ramparts either side of it. Xuanwu Lake in the afternoon is where the city goes to sit down. Leave time and some composure for the Nanjing Massacre Memorial: it is free, it is heavy, and it is the reason a great many people come. If a temple or hall here offers an evening lighting ceremony, come back for it — the daytime visit is the lesser half.
Eat like you mean it
- Suzhou-style noodlesFine noodles in clear broth with the topping laid over. Breakfast, and cheap.
- Squirrel mandarin fishScored, fried and drowned in sweet-sour sauce. A banquet dish, ordered once.
- Salted duckNanjing: pale, lean, cold, and sold by weight from a counter.
- Duck-blood & vermicelli soupBetter than it sounds and what the city eats at every hour.
- Crab-roe dumplingsAutumn only. Outside the season the roe is not the same thing.
- Biluochun teaSuzhou green tea, picked tiny in spring, sold loose in the old town.
Where to stay
- Suzhou · Pingjiang RoadTwo nights inside the old town, walking distance to both gardens.
- Suzhou · Guanqian StreetCheaper, central, and on the metro.
- Nanjing · Confucius Temple · QinhuaiThe river quarter at the door, best for a short stay.
- Nanjing · XinjiekouThe city centre and the metro crossing, for everything else.
Before you go
- Book the Humble Administrator’s Garden and the Suzhou Museum ahead, and take the first slot. Both are unbearable by mid-morning.
- Ignore the ten-yuan pedicabs in Suzhou. The fare is per cart rather than per person, and the small extra for a "silk culture experience" is a delivery to a factory shop.
- Do not buy anything at a garden exit. The same umbrella that is thirty-five yuan at the gate is twenty-five round the corner.
- Street photo packages here open at about ¥299 and double at the selection desk, where the sell is per retouched frame. Decide the number before you sit down.
- In Nanjing take the metro, not a taxi. The old streets are narrow and nearly all one-way.
- If somebody hands you a small free gift at a scenic-area entrance, it is an advertisement with a queue attached.
One honest thing — Suzhou runs three hustles on visitors often enough to name them: the cheap pedicab that detours to a silk shop, the street photo package that doubles at the selection desk, and the souvenir stall at every garden exit. None will hurt you and all three will annoy you.
