I planned this Shanghai Jiangnan tour itinerary before turning thirty. Now five years later, I’m finally executing it with my daughter, who is just less than two years old. The last time I visited Jiangnan was 7 years ago and it was in late autumn, November, when Jiangnan was in rainy season. Jiangnan is truly petite and picturesque, with an ink painting charm! This have since left a deep impression on me and I always wanted to revisit Jiangnan again.
Itinerary Overview
➡️ Day 1: Arriving in Shanghai
➡️ Day 2: Take a high-speed train from Shanghai Railway Station to Wuxi Station for 40 minutes—then charter a private car directly to Yuantouzhu Scenic Are. Staying in Sakura Villa
➡️ Day 3: Stroll around Yuantouzhu Scenic Area in the morning. In the afternoon, charter a car to Nianhuawan for 45 minutes Stay at Nianhuawan.
➡️ Day 4: In the afternoon, charter a car to Suzhou, stroll along Pingjiang Road. Staying in a boutique hotel located at Shantang Street
➡️ Day 5: Visit Humble Administrator’s Garden, Lingering Garden. Return to Shanghai by high-speed train (30-50 mins)
➡️ Day 6: Spend a day in Shanghai
➡️ Day 7: Return to Chongqing / Singapore
Yuantouzhu Scenic Area
Yuantouzhu is the top attraction of Taihu Lake, lying on a peninsula on the northwest shore of Wuxi Taihu Lake. It is named after the giant rock protruding into the lake, which resembles a turtle lifting its head. One of the world’s top three cherry blossom viewing sites, the most famous being Japan. Speaking of cherry blossoms in Japan, they actually originated from the Himalayan region of China. Today, they have become Japan’s national flower with the meaning of “enthusiastic, pure, noble, and beautiful.” But going to Japan means dealing with tourists from all over the world, so Yuantouzhu is undoubtedly the first choice in terms of cost-effectiveness (I heard that this year Japan’s cherry blossoms are generally delayed, so those who booked early are lucky). There are many cherry blossom varieties, and their blooming period is not long. Fortunately, there is anticipation every year. After all, life is more cruel; some opportunities only come once in a lifetime. However, it seems that we are more proactive in chasing flowers than chasing dreams.
Chinese people like cherry blossoms 🌸, but I feel it’s more because the pink color easily evokes a girlish heart. And this girlish heart seems to have nothing to do with age, so whether it’s a cherry blossom viewing paradise, when the flowering season arrives, it’s always crowded.
🚶 Recommended Tour Route
Chongshan Gate → Chongshan Hidden Beauty → Yixiu Bridge → Cherry Blossom Forest → Cherry Blossom Pavilion → Renjie Garden → Sakura Valley → Sakura Bridge → Sakura Valley Fragrance → Changchun Flower Edge → Jujing Scenic Spot → Ten Li Fragrant Path
🧭 Tour Tips
- The food in the scenic area is as bad and expensive as in all other scenic areas, so I suggest bringing your own food if possible.
- There are snack shops in the scenic area, Sakura Villa also has a restaurant, and other restaurants are mainly concentrated on the way to Changchun Bridge.
- Night cherry blossoms are not better than during the day, and I don’t particularly like the neon colors.
- It is strongly recommended to stay in the main scenic area (refer to the section on Sakura Mountain Villa).
Below photos are taken from the cherry blossom viewing towers.
Below is the Cherry Blossom Avenue nearby.
You can buy this wind chime in the scenic area and write blessings to hang up on the trees. When the wind blows, the crisp sound is particularly clear.
Most of the time we went, it was overcast or even raining. Only a little bit of sun came out the next morning, and I captured a little bit of blue sky.
Below is the Sakura Valley.
Below is Changchun Bridge.
There is a cafe on Changchun Bridge, the milk tea is good, but the cultural and creative cakes are not very tasty.
There are night cherry blossoms, but personally, I feel they are much inferior to daytime ones. After all, they are all artificially illuminated, and the colorful lights are quite tacky.
Nianhuawen
“Nianhuawan” is actually a theme park focusing on the Zen lifestyle and experiencing the Zen lifestyle. ‘Nianhua’, on the one hand, comes from the classic story of Buddha holding a flower and smiling at Mahakasyapa at Ling Shan meeting, and also from the magical landscape resembling a five-petal lotus flower where it is located. The town’s architecture mainly showcases the Tang Dynasty’s style, with some elements of the Song Dynasty. I have a very favorable impression of this concept, the fusion of the three, creating a unique Chinese-style beauty and mood. There are many experiences in the park. In addition to Hanfu experience, there are also many traditional Chinese activities, such as copying scriptures, reading, tea tasting, archery, parent-child DIY, meditation, and bowl chanting. Compared to Yuantouzhu, I’m really satisfied with the food inside Nianhuawan. I really liked the noodles I had for lunch.
I recommend everyone to take a paddle boat, both day and night, you can see the scenery of wandering into the Peach Blossom Spring.
We had dinner at a Hongkong roast duck restaurant in the evening, and this was the view from the window, a very beautiful scenery. The taste is also quite good, recommended!
Wuxi’s local cuisine, the sauce ribs, are a bit sweet, but not like our sweet and sour ribs, not very fond of it.
This stir-fried treasure is really close to my heart.
The roast duck is really good, I like the oily skin and the juicy meat.
The night view of Nianhuawan is worth mentioning, better than Yuantouzhu, after all, the ticket is not cheap, and there are many live performances and drone shows.
Suzhou / Shantang Street and Pingjiang Road
It is said that there is paradise above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below. I’ve already been to Hangzhou, so this time I decisively headed to Suzhou, for the scenic gardens step by step, and also for the Suzhou-style desserts by the small bridges and flowing water
During the day, we went to Shantang Street and Pingjiang Road, and in the evening, we returned to Shantang Street to see the night view. Generally speaking, I prefer Pingjiang Road, which has more characteristics of Jiangnan water town. Shantang Street is more like a commercialized ancient town with little difference. But I especially recommend Xin Zhenyuan on Shantang Street, it’s really delicious! Below is Shantang Street.
Below is some photos from Pingjiang Road.
We had our dinner at Li Bai Crab, and it is very satisfying! THE jasmine and osmanthus green dumplings with cold tofu are really delicious.
Suzhou /Humble Administrator’s Garden and Lingering Garden
The next day it rained, so we went to the Humble Administrator’s Garden and Lingering Garden to appreciate the charm of Jiangnan gardens.
❓ When visiting gardens, should you hire a guide? Personally, I don’t recommend it because there are too many people, and it’s very difficult to control the speed and quality of the visit. Plus, I had my kid with me, and kids are very impatient creatures. Instead, I think everyone can first learn some basic knowledge of the gardens so that they won’t be confused when visiting.
Four Famous Gardens: Summer Palace, Humble Administrator’s Garden, Chengde Mountain Resort, Lingering Garden.
Landscaping Techniques of Garden Art: Borrowing scenery, framing scenery, dividing scenery, leaking scenery, blocking scenery, opposing scenery, clipping scenery, adding scenery
Below is Lingering Garden.
Below is the Humble Administrator’s Garden.
Relatively speaking, I prefer Lingering Garden, probably because it’s more exquisite, and I can capture many frame scenes. Humble Administrator’s Garden is too large and crowded, making it difficult to capture photos. I have to say, Suzhou gardens have brought my love for Chinese aesthetics to its peak. Any random shot looks like an ink landscape painting, especially after the rain.
Shanghai
Every time I come to Shanghai, it’s because of the convenient transportation. My husband also came here over ten or twenty years ago, so this time he wanted to revisit the taste of Xiaolongbao, only to find that it doesn’t seem much different from the taste over in Suzhou. And being brought up in a big city like Shanghai, he isn’t very interested in touring similar international metropolises. But we still prepared two city walk routes. In the morning, we went to Yuyuan Road near our accommodation, and after coming back to rest in the afternoon, we went to the Bund for sightseeing. Here we go. This Lai Lai Xiaolongbao is very good, recommended!
Yuyuan Road is over 2 kilometers long, starting from Jing’an Temple and going all the way to People’s Park. There are many old buildings along the way with a sense of history, and various small shops dotted among them are particularly cute. But the relatively concentrated small shops are still in the direction of People’s Park.
Stopped by a trendy cafe midway, the interior decoration is very old Shanghai.This cup of tea is more affected than I imagined.
Had lunch at a trendy restaurant called Onita. It’s a typical Western meal, but the roasted chicken is really good!
Then we departed around 4 pm for a city walk along the Bund. From day to night, the weather was great, and Shanghai is always full of stories, whether it’s old buildings or modern steel and concrete.
Took a photo with the Oriental Pearl Tower, then it’s considered that I’ve been to Shanghai.
Very reminiscent of the Seine riverside and the night view here is really good!
Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street is crowded with people, we had dinner at a casual Hong Kong-style tea restaurant here.
Accommodation & Tips
Sakura Villa Accommodation in Yuantouzhu
During peak season, the price is undoubtedly very high. I booked the cheapest room type more than two months in advance for 1390. But this price is still quite worth it when you think about:
- Staying in the scenic area, you don’t have to get up early and queue up to enter the park the next day. And if you do get up early, you can enjoy the park’s tranquility by yourself.
- Includes park tickets, can see both daytime and night cherry blossoms, which is actually equivalent to two days of free tickets.
- The hotel provides passes, making it easy to take a taxi here without worrying about traffic jams.
- The buffet breakfast in the morning is really good Although the hotel is a bit old, I am still very touched by their early check-in for me. The official check-in time is after four o’clock, but we arrived at one-thirty and they said the room was ready after checking, so we checked in at around two o’clock. The big bed room is much larger than I imagined, but the standard room is pitifully small, even though it comes with a garden balcony. But can you believe it, these two types of rooms are priced the same! So I advise everyone to go straight to the big bed room.
Guesthouse in Nianhuawan Scenic Area
The room cost 499, including a free Hanfu experience. Actually, the price is very cost-effective, after all, buying tickets separately will be very expensive. But objectively speaking, the accommodation conditions of Yunban Room are really not good. It’s a youth hostel concept, and the housekeeper is rarely seen. You need to carry your luggage upstairs, there is no elevator. The rooms are small and the hygiene is average, and there are even many ants in the bathroom. It’s at the level of a two or three hundred yuan hotel outside. The only advantage is that the balcony overlooks the cherry blossoms!
Shantang Renjia Inn in Suzhou
The location of this inn is very good, right at the entrance of Shantang Street. Built by the water, the overall style is the style of Jiangnan gardens. The most impressive thing is that their home is the only inn I have stayed in that provides happy farm toys for children to play with, and there is also a dedicated book corner and various DIY activities, very kids friendly. In addition, the breakfast is also quite delicious, recommended The only drawback may be that the bar is a bit noisy at night, and it won’t quiet down until 9 o’clock.
Shanghai Homestay
Stayed in Shanghai for two nights, in order to save money, we stayed in a homestay, a four-person suite for over 600 yuan per night. Not highly recommended, because it’s an old house converted into a homestay, and you can see that the quality of the furniture and the old electrical circuits are very worrying. Fortunately, the location is excellent, but I won’t recommend it here.
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