A One-day Trip in Suzhou

Preface

The plum rain season is coming to an end. While the weather is still not too hot, I decided to take a trip to a place I’ve long wanted to visit — Suzhou.

I’ve been living in Shanghai for over four years, but this was my first time taking a train from Shanghai Railway Station. I took Metro Line 3 to get there. The tracks of Line 3 near the station run above ground, and when I transferred at Hongkou Football Stadium Station, I had to walk a really long way.

Platform of Line 3

There are plenty of trains running between Shanghai and Suzhou, so buying a ticket last minute at the station is totally fine (ticket sales stop 10 minutes before departure, and if you miss your train, you can change it to a later one).

Inside Shanghai Railway Station – the atmosphere feels a bit cyberpunk

I spotted the "Big Shorts" (nickname for Suzhou Center)

Places Visited

Lingering Garden (Liuyuan)

I took the metro from Suzhou Railway Station to a stop near Liuyuan Road and then walked to the garden. The road is lined with trees, providing a pleasant and shaded walk.

I bought the ticket via WeChat and scanned the QR code to enter the garden.

Unstoppable greenery

Every corner of the Lingering Garden is carefully designed. It seems like the garden was recently renovated—there was a strong smell of fresh paint throughout.

Lotus blossoms in bloom

Prosperity in full bloom

A chubby cat sound asleep

Water lilies and rockeries

The sky is starting to clear

Sunlight streaming through — almost dreamy

A bit closer

After walking through the entire garden, I exited.

Road outside the garden

Xiyuan Temple (Xiyuan Monastery)

Xiyuan Temple is very close to the Lingering Garden — just a few minutes’ walk. At the entrance, you pay a 5 yuan incense offering fee, and then you’re free to light incense inside.

Where did the white balance go

Sunlight streaming in — lovely feeling

Visitors offering incense

I lit the incense I received and continued walking further in.

The Grand Hall (Daxiong Baodian) houses a statue of the Buddha and many figures of Guanyin.

The life release pond

A pile of cats on the wall

A little turtle

So white it's glowing

I was getting hungry, so I headed out to grab something to eat.

A simple, honest bowl of braised pork noodles

Pingjiang Road

Didn’t find anything particularly special — just another internet-famous old street.

Suzhou Museum / Humble Administrator’s Garden (Zhuozhengyuan)

You need to reserve tickets for the Suzhou Museum a week in advance. Since this trip to Suzhou was a spontaneous decision, I hadn’t planned for that — so I left it for next time. The same goes for the Humble Administrator’s Garden. I plan to take a day off on a weekday to visit, which should help avoid the crowds.

The small river in front of the museum is incredibly clear. Little fish swim around, and an old man was scooping leaves from his boat. Sitting by the river was quite relaxing — with a light breeze brushing against my face.

It started to rain

Gate to the East

The “Big Shorts.”

Jinji Lake

Ligongdi Causeway

I exited at Ligongdi Metro Station and walked to the lakeside pavilion. This afternoon was pleasantly cool, and the breeze by the lake felt amazing.

This is such a nice spot

The Ferris wheel across the lake didn’t seem to be operating.

Time to leave.

Fresh raindrops were still on the train window.

Expenses

Didn’t really spend much — less than 200 yuan in total.

Some Thoughts

• So Similar to Shanghai, Yet So Different

  Suzhou doesn’t feel as rushed or cramped as Shanghai. That sense of “cramped” comes from my own experience living in ordinary neighborhoods in Shanghai. I visited the Jing’an Temple area last week, and in comparison, it really felt like a completely different kind of cityscape — Jing’an exudes that “old money” vibe.

• Poverty Limits My Imagination

  Wow… is this what rich people’s homes look like?

• Palm Reading and Jasmine Bracelets on the Streets

  I came across many vendors offering palm reading or selling jasmine flower bracelets. There were also public broadcasts and posters along the road warning tourists not to trust fortune-tellers. Security guards were politely asking these vendors to leave. It felt like a tourist-friendly setup — trying to prevent scams.

• Incredibly Convenient Transportation

  All the places I visited were close to metro stations — super convenient. It reminded me of a trip to Kyoto where I walked 30,000 steps in a day… the contrast is stark. Taking a high-speed train from Shanghai to Suzhou takes only 30 minutes — honestly, it felt even easier than getting around within Shanghai, where a single metro ride can easily take an hour.

• HDR/SDR Content

  I’ve left the choice up to the readers — if your device supports HDR, those images are the closest representation of what I actually saw at the time. I added a toggle switch for readers who might not want to be surprised by sudden highlights, allowing everyone to decide for themselves how they want to view the images.

• Project Indigo

  One of my goals for this outing was to test Adobe’s new Project Indigo app. Indigo captures 25 frames in quick succession to compute a final image. Based on my experience, the results feel much less “digital” than the default camera app — the images look more natural.

Final Note

It was such a fun day — I’ll definitely come back again.