Nantong Self-Driving Tour | A Family Trip at the End of Summer Vacation

📍 Suzhou · 👁 9499 reads · ❤️ 28 likes

I've been to quite a few cities in Jiangsu—Suzhou, Nanjing, Wuxi. This time I finally made it to Nantong. I didn't know much about Nantong specifically. Before leaving, I only planned to go to the zoo; everything else was decided once we got to Nantong.

For transportation, we opted to self-drive. But we couldn't drive all the way from the north, so we took a high-speed train to Nantong, then rented a Skoda Superb at the train station from eHi Car Rental—super convenient. Their cars are very new and look great in photos. Most importantly, the price is really cheap, only around 130 yuan a day, fantastic value for money. Lots of young people rent from them; I really like it.

After picking up the car, we went straight to the Abacus Museum. I actually learned the abacus when I was little (I was born in 1990, not that old!). When they stopped requiring kids to learn it, I was overjoyed because I could never get the hang of it.

We encountered heavy rain while visiting Hao River. The rainy surface of the water was actually quite beautiful. Many of Nantong's museums are clustered around Hao River. But for museums in a smaller city like this, I think just visiting one or two is enough—they're not all that significant.

When it started raining, we were out and about and took shelter under a small pavilion. Experiencing a downpour while traveling away from home—that's one of those little memorable things about a trip.

For lodging, we stayed at the Ibis Hotel for these few days. The hotel environment was pretty good.

Every city in Jiangsu is actually quite developed. I originally thought Nantong might be a bit behind, but I completely overlooked that even a city that doesn't shine so brightly in Jiangsu is still quite impressive by national standards.

We went to Cup Coffee, and there were quite a few people inside. They have a wide selection of coffee. The service was excellent, too. When you walk in, you can smell the beans first, then rinse your mouth, taste, and confirm which flavor you want. A server accompanies you the whole time, so it never feels awkward.

Besides coffee, you can also get milk tea. What I loved most was the environment—very minimalist and nice.

Just look at their latte art—it's exceptionally well done.

Here are some photos I took at the hotel. Ibis is really cheap for a four-star hotel. Our room was only 300 yuan, and I was more than satisfied. The surroundings were great, too; leaning out the window, you could see the Adventure Kingdom and Tonglu Canal.

We saw that huge Ferris wheel, but for once my kid didn't want to ride it—how unusual.

Since a friend works in Nantong, we had dinner together. We went to Riverside Courtyard (He Bian Xiao Yuan), which was packed. In the middle of summer, we had to eat outdoors. But it was full of local life, very lively and bustling.

We ordered quite a lot—I think eight dishes. The priciest one was Sichuan Pepper Bullfrog, the best bullfrog I've ever had. If you get the chance, do order their Máo Xuè Wàng (spicy blood curd stew)—the portion is huge.

After dinner, the whole family took a stroll along the river. If you have time, I recommend exploring around Hao River more; I personally found the scenery quite nice.

I thought Hao River wasn't very big, but after walking for a long time, we still hadn't covered it all. My little one gets sleepy by 9 p.m., and carrying her was too tiring, so we just headed back to the hotel to rest.

Check out the night view of Hao River—absolutely gorgeous. They also have sightseeing boats you can buy tickets for, but they seemed pricey, so we skipped that.

For breakfast, we went to Xie Xiang Xuan (Crab Fragrance Pavilion). It's a small place, but not many people inside. Before going there, we had a little something at the hotel first. The auntie at Xie Xiang Xuan was especially nice. I highly recommend their crab roe soup dumplings—pricey at 68 yuan for six, but unbelievably delicious. When you bite into one, it's packed with rich crab roe. So satisfying! The shop looks totally unassuming from the outside.

From there, we drove to Nantong Museum. Right after entering, we saw a dinosaur skeleton, and my little one was thrilled.

If you want to see dinosaurs, I'd recommend the China Dinosaur Park in Xuzhou—a really large attraction.

Like other museums, Nantong Museum is closed on Mondays. It opens at 9 a.m., so plan your time accordingly. No admission fee.

The exhibits inside were exquisite. There were lots of shell fossils—scallops, conches, and so on. But I couldn't identify them in any more detail.

After leaving the museum, we could head to Lit 101—supposedly quite a famous café. I heard they have three branches in Nantong. We tried the oat milk dirty, which was good. They also have cakes, though not cheap at 48 yuan each. But luckily, on the day we went, the second one was half price, so we bought two. They were really delicious.

The rest of the day, we didn't specifically go anywhere else, saving most of our energy for the zoo the next day.

My little one loves the zoo most of all. So when my husband told her we could go this time, she was over the moon.

Inside the park, we first went to the drive-through area. I thought it would be like Chimelong, with all sorts of fierce animals. Nope. The very first thing we saw were black swans, so elegant. Black swans are monogamous; they stay together for life. That's quite a beautiful romance.

After that came the Eurasian Forest Zone. As the name suggests, it's animals from the forest. We saw sika deer, argali sheep, and more. Sika deer are so pretty—short ears and spots on their bodies.

Alpacas were in the Americas Jungle section. There was an alpaca just slowly chewing grass.

At King's Tribe, it's all large animals. We saw Siberian tigers, white lions, black bears—all of them. This was definitely a "don't move, don't move" moment!

After seeing those predators, we reached Wind and Cloud Grassland. Here, my nerves relaxed. They're all herbivores, and I'm not afraid of them at all. Plus, they're super good-looking (the predators are too).

Check it out. The drive-through area is really interesting. There's an extra fee, though.

You can bring your own food to feed the animals, but I wouldn't recommend sourcing it yourself. If you know what to feed them, you could prepare it in advance.

Apart from the drive-through zone, the walking area is also a must-see, just as fun. It features monkeys, horses, red pandas, and more. Of course, there are giant pandas. No kid doesn't love giant pandas, but red pandas are actually incredibly cute too.

Travelogue Contents:

1. Nantong Photo Gallery

2. Short Trip in Nantong

3. A Different Side of Nantong

4. Zoo Adventure

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