10 AWESOME PLACES TO VISIT IN SUZHOU! (PART 1)

Hi guys, so if you are reading this blog post, most likely u are either planning to head to Suzhou, or that u are just exploring your options, or maybe u just need to read something as a lullaby to doze off in bed. Fear not, what u are about to read next would serve the purposes well!

As mentioned, I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful Venice of China - Suzhou, in mid December last year! To be more specifically, it was through signing up for NTU Prelude - Gem Discoverer. Long story cut short, signed up for the trip alone but ended the trip with lots of gifts - new friends, new experiences and most importantly, my other half (wink wink) !

#1 Ping Jiang Road 平江路

At the entrance of the Ping Jiang Lu (near the main road)

Ping jiang road is one of the most well preserved road in Suzhou, simply walking down the long lengths of it brings u back to the ancient times. What I loveeeeee most about Ping Jiang road is that it contains many different kind of shops, ranging from souvenirs shops to yummy eatery shop! One of my personal favourite place would be the Momicafe (猫的天空之城). At Momi cafe, you can post a future postcard to your friends or yourself! It is quite straightforward, u can purchase a postcard for around 20 - 30 RMB and pen down your message. Following that, select a date and pay the necessary storage fee and stamp fee with the cafe staff. Oh! Don't forget to indicate which country u are mailing to! Your post card will be stored and sent at the selected date. There would be a few cats roaming freely around in the cafe, but fear not, they are quite friendly!

At the entrance

Inside the shop

For myself, I have mailed out quite a fair bit of future postcards to my friends and also most importantly, myself. I think it is a really cool idea that we do not see in Singapore! In fact, my friends and I visited the shop for like, 3-4 times! At the shop, u can even buy souvenirs such as hand-drawn suzhou map, postcards and more!

A inner alley along ping jiang road

Yummy food such as curry stirred fried potatoes can be found along the streets too!!

#2 Master of the Nets Garden (网师园）

Suzhou is most famous for its gardens, so don't leave suzhou not visiting or knowing about this fact! Inside Suzhou, there are many classical gardens. Master of the Nets Garden is the very 1st classical garden that my friends & I visited on our trip and it totally wow our cold assess off!!

The garden wasn't very big but wow, were we fascinated by the sight! Upon entering, u would see a hall where guests are served. Walking further into the garden, u see a beautiful pond, with tall cloud rocks (云岩石) placed. I am unable to describe the beautiful scenery because words can't give it proper credits!

Inside the Garden

What I l also love about the garden would be the maple tree planted at the top of the cloud rock! I think it is at this point in time, that i started to fall in love with the orangey maple tree! overall, the garden gave off a very peaceful ambiance. Though the garden wasn't big, it contained all the elements that every other classical garden has - fake cloud rocks, water bodies, building, plants and trees!definitely go for it before going for the remaining gardens!

#3 Lion Grove (狮子林)

Lion Grove is definitely the most interesting garden that I have visited so far in Suzhou! You may wonder why it is named "Lion Grove", well that is simply because the cloud rocks placed in the garden itself looks like LIONS! Literally! No joke. There are over thousands lion like rock situated in the garden itself, each rock are placed strategically to form a maze by the then owner. One can look forward to lots of climbing in and out of large cloud rocks, almost like lions burrowing in and out! LOL! Lion grove really lives up to its name!

Spot the Lion like rocks - here and here and there and there and EVERYWHERE! Spot the cave below the huge rock that im standing on! Going through it leads u to another part of the maze! Quite confusing sometimes hahah

#4 Tiger Hill （虎丘）

Tiger hill is a, well, literally a hill. Except that it contains one of the oldest Pagoda in Suzhou. The pagoda is famously known as the Cloud Rock Pagoda! Unlike normal pagodas, it is not standing straight, but in fact, it is leaning towards one side. Well, the tower is old too and old things need support to last for further generations! Oh, and it would be best to visit Tiger Hill on a clear day as the visibility would be better and the view down from the hill would be awesome too!

Spot the tower behind me!

Before climbing up the hill, we got to see many interesting things such as the thousand steps rock platform, buddha scripture as well as an interesting cave called 剑池 sword pool!

Inside the pool

Getting closer to the pagoda!

The leaning cloud rock pagoda! Literally leaning! We could only take photos outside as it was too dangerous for people to visit the insides of the tower! Wouldn't want to risk our lives doing that too!

#5 Humble Adminstrator's Garden

Wow, don't be fooled by its name "Humble".. The size and majestic view of the garden cannot be described by the word Humble. We were mind blown by the HUGEEEEE SIZE of the garden!! There were around 3-4 gardens within the humble administrator garden itself! We were very curious and asked our student tour guide more on its background. It turns out that the garden was owned by an official that chose to retreat to Suzhou to avoid the politics in courts, hence he built the garden up.

Large vast of green, perhaps for the owner to have picnic with his many wifes (kidding!!!)

Can u spot the mandarin ducks underneath? i bet u can't - lol

Unique steel-rock bridge with pretty patterns connecting the two sides of the pond!

Wow, look at the scale of the pond! it is really HUGEE

This is just the start of the many smaller gardens within the garden itself!

On a side note, I like to highlight that I do suspect some improper form of money pumped into building that big place at the owner's era. WOW. I just can't imagine how a distraught official like him managed to get so much money to build it. That is the MAIN and BIGGEST thought on my mind throughout the entire trip at the garden itself. Every architecture, every building just blows our mind off. Oh, I have not mentioned this, but many of the gardens in Beijing and Shanghai looks similar to that of the classical gardens in Suzhou - mainly because the architect involved is the same person. Even the palaces' gardens was designed by an architect from Suzhou!

Overall, the Humble Administrator's Garden is definitely a MUST-GO if u are in Suzhou. It is definitely a refreshing place to be!