Shanghai Suzhou and Zhouzhuang Day Tour

Pick up from your hotel in Shanghai around 8:00 am. Drive about 1.5 hour and get to Suzhou - a well-known historical and cultural city. The city is often dubbed as "The Venice of the East." Its famous private gardens are listed as World Culture Heritage.

First visit Net Master Garden,the best and most celebrated as a model Ming Dynasty Garden in all of Suzhou. The Garden of the Master of the Nets is really a masterpiece. The good use of space is the most effective thing about this garden. Rock arrangements and beautiful fish pools match each other as do the house and garden parts. The garden also holds many structures of using lattice windows to frame views of flowers or bamboo.

Then move on to Pingjiang Road for a walk. This 800-year old street is the best preserved ancient "water lane" ( in contrast with “water town”) in Suzhou. You cannot find a better place in China in which modernity and tradition match hand in hand.

Then visit the Ancient City Gate and Grand Canal. The Panmen City Gate is the oldest city gate in existence in Suzhou city. It used to be one of the eight city gates during the Spring & Autumn Annals (770-476 BC) when Suzhou was the capital of the Wu Kingdom. The Grand Canal is one of the greatest ancient projects in China and is the longest man-made canal in world.

After lunch, visit Zhouzhuang Water Town. Zhouzhuang is known as the No.01 Watertown in China. This over-900 year old watertown has become a trove of oriental culture with its simple and pristine custom, unique folklore, the well preserved ancient residential houses and mesmerizing water town views. You will board a Chinese style gondala to cruise the water town.

After the tour in Suzhou and Zhouzhuang, transferred back to your midtown hotel in Shanghai.