Suzhou and Zhouzhuang Water Town Day Tour from Shanghai 8 Hours, Shanghai (SHALC-89)

First your guide will take you to Zhouzhuang, a 90 minutes drive away from downtown Shanghai. This is a private day tour including a private English-speaking guide and an experienced local driver. The private car is clean and air-conditioned. As the tour is private, the departure date is chosen by you.

Usually your guide will contact you the night before your departure date. In the morning at around 8:00 in your hotel lobby, your guide will be waiting there on time and the car is outside the hotel ready for you.

As one of Jiangnan Six Great Ancient Towns in China, Zhouzhuang enjoys the greatest reputation and is even rated as China’s No.1 Water Town. You will visit Shen House and Zhang House for local culture, architecture, furniture and some interesting stories about ancient China. Bizzar Tower and Twin Bridges are also the must-sees.

The tower was a restaurant in ancient times. It was not bizarre at all, but when the customers became drunk, everything felt bizarre. Several ancient poets liked to compose poems while drinking in the tower. Some of their poems were against the government, so the tower felt even more bizarre. The tower is a good place to have a bird view of Zhouzhuang nowadays, although it is not high.

After the Bizarre Tower, you will hop on a sculling boat to admire the view you just saw from the top of the tower. Seeing the attractions from a sculling boat offers you a different feeling. The boat ride takes around 20 minutes.

These two houses were own by rich merchants in ancient times. Every door, courtyard, table, chair, window and roof is an art work. You can learn about the ancient Chinese culture via the paintings, sculptures and calligraphy works in these two houses.

A Study in Shen House

Local people believe going through the twin bridges, Shide and Yong’an bridges will bring good luck. The twin bridges look like an ancient Chinese key, so they are also called the Key bridges. The twin bridges and their shadows in the river offer tourists a charming scene for photos.

The Twin Bridges

After the sightseeing in Zhouzhuang, you will transferred to Suzhou and take a lunch in a local restaurant. It takes around one hour for the transfer. Feel free to tell your tour guide should you have any requests about food.

It is one of the most important gardens in Suzhou. You can see everything they expect for a classical Chinese garden. Though most Suzhou gardens look very similar, Guan Yuan Feng (Cloud-Crowned Peak), the landmark of the garden, make Lingering Garden unique. You might also find all garbage bins are interesting and lovely as they are all designed in blue and white porcelain style.

Lingering Garden

It is an interesting way to explore Suzhou through old streets and local markets. You will see real daily life of local people.

When the tour finishes, you will be escorted back to your hotel in Shanghai. It will be around 17:00 when you arrive in Shanghai.