Suzhou Travel Notes

Due to COVID-19, recent out-of-province trips from last October to this April have been broken into short getaways. We picked places near Shanghai — Wuxi, Shaoxing, Hangzhou, all in the Jiangnan region — and even dragged in ancient towns like Dangkou, Anchang, and Xitang. As Yu Dafu said, 'The scenery of Jiangnan is lovely everywhere.' Yet we kept feeling something wasn't right, as if something was missing. A sharp-eyed friend reminded us, 'Heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below.' Can Jiangnan without Suzhou still be called Jiangnan?

Bordering East Taihu Lake and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Wujiang in Suzhou is crisscrossed by waterways. Its unique location and deep history have nurtured Jiangnan water town culture, millennia-old canal culture, and silkworm-silk traditions, earning it the names 'land of fish and rice' and 'home of silk'.

This Spring Festival, I hadn't planned on traveling far, but staying at home felt like wasting this rare holiday. My family also suggested going out for a trip, so...

Stamp collecting is all the rage in travel right now—calling all stamp lovers! Rumor has it Suzhou’s Wuzhong District has rolled out something special.

There's paradise above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below. Many still hold the gentle image of a 'water-town Jiangnan' for Suzhou, but if you truly visit

[Four-hands Dinner] A piano duet form, now a specific term for high‑end restaurant collaborations, usually a co‑dinner of two celebrated chefs. Westerners simply call it ‘Four‑hands’.

Note: Suzhou, located in the southeastern part of Jiangsu Province, has been called paradise on earth by literati since ancient times, and was marveled at by Marco Polo as the "East"

(January 23, Suzhou) The second 'FOOD & WINE Annual Awards' took 'The New Arena' as its theme.

[ A Dinner by The Grand Canal ] Not long ago at the Canal Banquet, I was on 'Chef...'

A good trip is living like a local. – Prologue. About Jiangnan, we have many beautiful imaginations. From 'Everyone says...'

This city, home for eight years then away for eight more, feels both familiar and strange. The many walks with you by Jinji Lake, those memories...

"There is paradise above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below." There are many ways to experience Suzhou. Beyond the canal-laced Gusu city, you can also stay...

"There is paradise above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below." If Yunnan's splendor is God's overturned palette, Suzhou and Hangzhou are a different kind of azure sky waiting for mist...

Traveling with Mom. It had been a long time since I last traveled with Mom. This time, I brought her to Suzhou’s Jinji Lake for a little getaway. At the

"Of all my old haunts in Jiangnan, the one I miss most is Wujiang's bend." Who doesn't love the misty rain of Jiangnan? When the poet Bai Juyi drifted to Jiangnan by boat, he

With the National Day holiday just around the corner, here is a self-drive route recommendation for the post-pandemic era: Suzhou Wujiang.

Suzhou, a city I've rushed through so many times but never really stopped to savor.

Just as there is paradise in heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth. Suzhou, a city cherished by scholars and poets, has bequeathed countless memorable lines...

In May, as spring eases into early summer and the wanderlust kicks in, there's a hidden reed-filled haven just a stone's throw from Shanghai in Changshu—Shajiabang.

2021 flew by in a flash, and 2022 is just around the corner. As it's the Year of the Tiger, I purposely sought out a place to celebrate the New Year.