Immerse in Suzhou Classical Gardens
Make the most of your time to visit Suzhou and Tongli Water Town from Shanghai in 1 day!
Enjoy the Suzhou gardens recognized by UNESCO and authentic experience to appreciate the graceful charm of Suzhou! We provide private transfer services and a guide between Shanghai and Suzhou to make your trip more convenient and efficient. We can also customize the itinerary according to your requirements.
Tour Highlights
Visit a UNESCO Garden - Lingering Garden

Relax in a Rowing Boat

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Great Experience in Suzhou with Alan
![]() Enjoyed a 1-day tour in Suzhou with our tour guide Alan. He was fluent in English and gave us many interesting tidbits about the history of various attractions as he brought us around. He catered to the needs of our group - ensuring that vegetarian food was available during lunch, allocating ample time for us to shop and explore while ensuring that we were on time for our high speed rail back to Shanghai. Thanks to his effective planning and communication with the driver/rickshaw riders, the tour proceeded smoothly. The itinerary was relaxed, but we got to see a bit of everything - Panmen was scenic and not crowded, Master of Nets garden was small but beautiful, the rickshaw riders were skillful in navigating the traffic, Pingjiang Road was bustling with activity and a great place for phototaking with canals. Our one night stay at Artyzen Habitat Hotel was comfortable, gym was clean and spacious, the hotel breakfast had a good selection of food. Thank you to our travel advisor Coco for planning the trip as well. more
Mar 2025, Zhihua
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Beautiful Zhou Zhuang and bustling Shanghai
![]() Brenda was our tour guide in Zhou Zhuang and Shanghai. We had a great time in Zhou Zhuang and Shanghai. Zhou Zhuang is definitely the water town to visit if you can only visit one. Brenda was able to meet all our needs, even assisted us with a trip to the ER in Zhou Zhuang and translated for us. Chinese healthcare system is very quick and cheap. We were able to see a doctor, get lab works, ultrasound and medication all within an hour. The cost was about $50 USD. That did not affect our trip. We enjoyed the restaurants she took us to. When our tour was supposed to end around 2pm in Shanghai, Brenda and the driver made sure that we completed all the activities we wanted to do. I highly recommend Brenda as a tour guide and using China Highlights to plan out your trip to China. more
Jan 2025, Dana T
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Brenda is great!
![]() My wife and I are touring China through China Highlights and when in Suzhou, we were blessed to Brenda as our guide. Brenda is an outstanding friendly guide whose knowledge of the area and whose English is excellent. Ray ‘s purpose in coming to Suzhou was to take a canal boat ride. Brenda arranged boat rides both in Suzhou and Tongli which were both marvellous. We also visited the famous leaning Buddhist Temple and the embroidery complex. She also took time to show us a great eating area close to our hotel. Brenda is currently with us in Shanghai where she shown us how to walk easily down to the river to look over the amazing new buildings and the Bund. She has also introduced us to quite different local food at lunch each day and we are now enjoying coffees at her favourite coffee shop on the river. more
Oct 2024, Ray E
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Suggested Itinerary
Here is a suggested itinerary. We are happy to customize a tour according to your interests and schedule.
Your private guide and driver will be waiting for you in your Shanghai hotel's lobby, so get ready to enjoy Suzhou.
It's about 1½ hours' drive to Suzhou from Shanghai. On the highway, you can see the typical outskirts and modern countryside of East China.
Visit a UNESCO garden - Lingering Garden. Your guide will tell you the history and some stories of this delicate traditional garden.
Explore Suzhou by taking a rickshaw ride alongside the ancient canal. You will go into little lanes and chat with locals in a food market.
Enjoy authentic Suzhou food in Pingjiang Road. Your guide will help you to order the dishes. The most famous dish in Suzhou is squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.
Tongli Water Town is only 30 minutes' drive from Suzhou. It's a small water town with lovely traditional architecture and bridges - the local people still live there. Visit a moxibustion academy and relax in a rowing boat.
At the end of the trip, we will escort you back to your hotel in Shanghai.
Trip Price
Price includes: