Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai free travel guide | Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai 6-day tour

Two years later, I almost forgot about this article. I have to say that since I left New Media, I have almost forgotten how to edit WeChat.

Similarly, after more than a year, I finally started writing this travel guide for Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai. I am actually afraid that my memory is not enough to support the content of this article, but I also hope that this guide will be useful to you.

Time: 2019.6.15 – 2019.6.20

Character : Me and my mother

Route : Chongqing — Hangzhou — Shanghai — Suzhou — Chongqing

Transportation : High-speed rail (I have to say that the high-speed rail in this geographical area is really convenient.)

As with previous independent travel, we first started with platforms such as “Baidu” and “Little Red Book” and started a series of planned searches.

This article will follow time order and mainly introduce the daily attractions , transportation and itinerary .

The main scenic spots mentioned are: Lingyin Temple, West Lake, Leifeng Pagoda, Wuzhen, Humble Administrator's Garden, Eslite Bookstore, World Expo Park (China Pavilion)

Let’s start with this initial planning list. In fact, I highly recommend that you make such a list when arranging your itinerary. Compared with just listing them on your mobile phone, this is more intuitive and convenient for writing and drawing.

△ Here is a list of the scenic spots I planned to visit on the map for your reference:

Hangzhou : West Lake, Lingyin Temple, Xixi Wetland, Jiuxi Yancun, Yanggongdi, Leifeng Pagoda, Drum Mountain, Quyuan Fenghe, Liuhe Pagoda, Gaoyin Street, Hefang Street, Southern Song Dynasty Imperial Street

Suzhou : Humble Administrator's Garden, Shantang Street (night view), Suzhou Museum, Hanshan Temple, Master of the Nets Garden (night view), The Lingering Garden, Canglang Pavilion, Suzhou Center, Eslite Bookstore

(According to the original plan, our itinerary did not include Shanghai. However, due to the warm invitation of relatives in Shanghai, we changed our route and went to Shanghai for a walk)

 

DAY 1: Chongqing→Hangzhou

Time taken : 11h

Transportation : High-speed rail

I started from Chengdu, and my mother started from home, and we went to Chongqing to take the high-speed train to Hangzhou. It was already past ten o'clock when we arrived in Hangzhou. There are many hotels near the high-speed rail station. I booked one on Meituan during the high-speed rail journey. (The environment of this hotel was not very good, so I changed to a nearby one the next day) The reason why I chose to live near the high-speed rail is because the transportation is very convenient . Because if you want to go to Wuzhen or something later, you can take the high-speed train directly there.

DAY 2: One-day trip to Hangzhou

Overview of attractions : Hangzhou North Railway Station → Lingyin Temple → West Lake → Leifeng Pagoda

Transportation : Bus (it does not take a long time between visits to various attractions)

I had some pan-fried noodles and scallion noodles at the breakfast shop downstairs, and set off for the scenic spots around 9 o'clock. Hangzhou's scallion noodles are really tasteless to Sichuan people, so they decided to add chili pepper.

 

Lingyin Temple

"Is Lingyin Temple ineffective?"

Recommendation index : ★★★☆☆

You need to transfer once from the high-speed rail station to Lingyin Temple, which is generally very convenient. The locals said we went too late, but you know that when girls go out, they go out immediately if they can’t get up, right?

Many people say that Lingyin Temple is very spiritual. I think...it's just...okay. In addition to many temples, there are also many scenic spots to enjoy around. With mountains and water, it is a good place to relax and nourish your mind. I feel that you can still spend several hours if you are serious about shopping. The environment of the scenic spot is also quite good, and the tickets are not expensive, so I personally think it is worth a visit to make a wish, worship Buddha and so on. If going early can make your wishes come true, everyone should get up early.

Lingyin Temple

 

west lake

"Can I have sex with the white lady?"

Recommendation index : ★★★☆☆

I personally feel that West Lake is not so much a scenic spot as a good place for locals to relax. My first personal feeling when I went to West Lake was: there was no shock of "I want to compare West Lake to Xizi", I just felt, well, it's okay?

Objectively speaking, West Lake is beautiful, but its beauty will not make you feel that it is a miraculous beauty. It is very pure and simple . You will think it is a lake you saw in People's Park, but it is much bigger than the lake in People's Park.

There is a long corridor across the middle of the West Lake for tourists to walk. There are museums, art galleries and many buildings on the lake. It is still very pleasant to walk and stop on the road with a camera, but only if the weather is not hot.

There are many scenic spots around the entire West Lake. We walked around until about 3:30 and set off to take a bus to Leifeng Pagoda. There is a bus that goes directly to Leifeng Pagoda on the way, which is really convenient and does not require you to think about the route.

West Lake scenery

Leifeng Pagoda

"Fahai, let my wife come out!"

Recommendation index : ★★☆☆☆

I don’t know if anyone has the same idea as me. The attraction "Leifeng Pagoda" is not very interesting at first glance. As I thought, it is indeed not that interesting , but it makes you feel that if I go to Hangzhou or West Lake, I should go to Leifeng Pagoda.

When I went up to the tower, I was lucky enough to listen to the instructor's explanation of Leifeng Pagoda with a group of primary school students. In short : Leifeng Pagoda has been renovated several times, and many things inside are newly built. Many of the strokes and carvings inside depict the story of the new White Snake.

Looking out from the tower, the whole scenery is quite good. If there is a better place to go, don't come .

Leifeng Pagoda

 

Summary

The entire trip this day went smoothly and the transportation was very convenient. Based on previous travel experience: During travel, if you reduce worries about transportation, the entire trip will be much easier. There are many scenic spots around the West Lake. If you are interested in others, you can go see them. We didn’t go to many of them, mainly because we wanted to relax. Overall, the West Lake and Lingyin Temple are still worth a visit. They are still beautiful to take pictures and walk along the edge of the West Lake. It is also very comfortable.

DAY 3: Hangzhou → Qiantang River

“It was the primary school Chinese textbook that deceived me.”

Recommendation index : ☆☆☆☆☆

High-speed rail: Hangzhou North Railway Station→Haining West Railway Station→Hangzhou North Railway Station

do not go! If you are not watching the tide, I beg you not to go!

The reasons are as follows:

1. Transportation is very inconvenient. There are very few cars directly from the high-speed rail station to the tide viewing point and it takes a long time to drive;

2. There’s nothing to see, it’s just a moment, it takes a whole day, it’s not worth it;

3. The road is not easy to find at all, and your feet can break.

In short: the river is quite majestic, it will take a long time to wait, and it’s hard to find the road after it’s over, so why go there? Isn’t it great to go shopping in Hangzhou?

tide

River

DAY 4: Hangzhou→Wuzhen

High-speed rail: Hangzhou North Station→Tongxiang Station→Shanghai Hongqiao

 

Wuzhen

“The light rain on Tianjie is as moist as cake”

Recommendation index : ★★★☆☆

Wuzhen is divided into Xizha and Dongzha. You can buy tickets separately or together. With the idea that there should be no difference between the two gates, we only went to the west gate .

"The light rain in Tianjie is as moist as cake", this is my feeling during my trip to Wuzhen.

——On that day, there was light rain in the sky, and the mist was hazy. I thought to myself: The mist and rain in the south of the Yangtze River, the small bridges and the flowing water, are poetic and picturesque.

(▲ The above description is just what I think to comfort myself. Because the weather is rainy and not hot, it is really inconvenient for travel. You have to hold an umbrella all the time on the way, which is not convenient for taking pictures, and it suddenly rained heavily at noon. It suddenly started to rain lightly inside my umbrella.)

For taking pictures, the light is not good, so I always feel that the photos taken do not look good. Of course, it may be because my skills are too poor.

For a long time, my imagination of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River was probably what Wuzhen looked like - people with small bridges and flowing water . In other words, I think Wuzhen is the representative of Jiangnan scenery. It is antique and plain, suitable for making a cup of tea, sitting in the pavilion and admiring the scenery of Jiangnan. To feel the unique charm of Jiangnan, Wuzhen’s contribution is indispensable.

In fact, the entire Xizha tour can be completed in about two or three hours . If you feel that time is short, you can go to Dongzha to visit, or find other attractions to get a general feel.

The Yanbo River makes people sad

 

The smokeheavyrain that day

 

DAY 5: Shanghai→Suzhou

Overview of attractions: Humble Administrator’s Garden → Eslite Bookstore

Transportation : Self-driving

Humble Administrator's Garden

"True rich family"

Recommendation index : ★★★★☆

Regarding Suzhou gardens, I have experienced its charm in Chinese textbooks before, and I have always wanted to go there.

There are many gardens in Suzhou, including the Master of Nets Garden, the Lingering Garden, and the Humble Administrator's Garden. The last one we chose was the Humble Administrator's Garden, which is said to be a representative work of Jiangnan classical gardens. The scenery inside is very rich, it is really a wealthy family. It would be great if we could find a guide. We all just wandered around and just looked at the scenery without knowing what the other meanings behind it were.

Just go to the picture

Eslite Bookstore

"Just pretend that you are an artistic young man."

Recommendation index : ★★★★☆

Eslite Bookstore is still famous. The first branch of Taiwan's Eslite Bookstore in mainland China The whole building is actually a big shopping mall, selling everything. I bought a bottle of rice wine at that time. The bookstore is upstairs. I didn't go there to buy books, but just wanted to see what it was like.

There are many cultural and creative products downstairs, as well as clothing and the like. The whole bookstore is very big. If you want to browse, you can still go shopping for a long time . It is a good way to "open your eyes".

Summary

When I first arrived in Suzhou by car, I felt that this city gave me a very high-end feeling. The entire city construction was simple and elegant, and even had a sense of the future. Therefore, my personal rating of Suzhou is selfish. Although my contact with Suzhou was very short, I really like this city. I originally wanted to go to the Suzhou Museum, but I had to make a reservation in advance on the official website, so I didn’t go. And because I temporarily added Shanghai to my itinerary, I was unable to visit many of the scenic spots I originally planned. I made up my mind: I will definitely come to Suzhou again!

 

DAY 6: Expo Park

“The legendary hotpot-shaped building, I’ve wanted to see it for a long time.”

Recommendation index : ★★★☆☆

Although the World Expo will be held in 2010, you can still come and see the China Pavilion. The China Pavilion also has several floors. (Hahahaha, I am running out of words to describe it.) Its name is actually "Chinese Art Palace" , which houses various painting exhibitions, calligraphy exhibitions and some artists. 's solo exhibition, etc., has a strong artistic atmosphere. If you are a student who likes to take pictures, your photo output rate should be quite high because the design of the building is very distinctive and the colors are simple and elegant. Friends who pursue literary and artistic style, don’t miss it.

The above is what I can recall about the trip. It is purely my personal opinion. If we have different opinions, we respect each other.

It was my first time to go to Hangzhou and Suzhou, and the overall feeling was that there was nothing "outrageous" about them. It was worth a visit. As for the Magic City, I have been there several times, but I have never had a good stroll around it. Before, it was always the hottest time of summer vacation and I didn’t go out much. Next time I go there, I must have a good time.

 

write at the end

After traveling, I often think about what is the meaning of traveling?

We often complain on the way: This scenic spot is not beautiful, why should I come? This local dish is not delicious, why was it deceived online again?

In fact, none of this is important, the most important thing is the leisurely mood. Just like when I first arrived in West Lake, I thought it was very ordinary. But when I think back to that time again, I still feel very happy, I even want to go back to that trip countless times. Because at that time, I didn’t seem to have many other worries.

The meaning of travel does not lie in how far our footsteps have traveled, or in how beautiful scenery we have seen, but in the leisure and pleasure at the center of the journey. Therefore, when traveling, you might as well bring a calm heart, forget about the troubles of life, don't care about gains and losses, and appreciate the scenery in front of you.