Suzhou’s Majestic Gardens & Museums

There is an old saying, “'Just as there is paradise in Heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on Earth”. Suzhou, the city a mere 30-minute train journey away from Shanghai, is still regarded in China as one of the country’s most beautiful garden cities. It even has relevance around the world and Giorgio Armani recently launched their new perfume, Pivoine Suzhou, to evoke the exotic beauty of the ancient settlement. Nine of Suzhou’s gardens are UNESCO World Heritage sites. The Grand Canal running through Suzhou connects Beijing to the north and Hangzhou to the south; it stretches 1800 kilometers and was constructed over 2000 years ago. So, whether it’s on a canal boat slipping through the downtown waterways or on a luxurious yacht cutting an elegant course through the lake at Kempinski Hotel Suzhou, it is a city best seen from the water. However, when you’re not bobbing along the water, here is our pick of the best gardens and museums in the city.

Master Of The Nets

This popular garden is one to avoid during the weekends, if you’re not a fan of Chinese tour groups and gap-year looking students. During the week, you can have the whole place to yourself, barring a couple of backpackers and the odd local family. With the perfect blend of water, greenery and rocks, The Master of Nets is as close to the quintessential Suzhou garden as you can get these days and is definitely worth a visit during your stay in Suzhou.

Confucian Temple

Not really a garden per se, but it makes our list because of the impressive number of bonsai trees dotted around the courtyard. Understated, and oddly stoic, there is an aura of power around this place. Tourists often skip it, but it’s definitely worth having a look. And the best part... it’s free.

Humble Administrator's Garden and Suzhou Garden Museum

Located just next door to the Suzhou Museum sits the Humble Administrator's Garden. The first thing that one inevitably notices about the garden is its immensesize. The largest in Suzhou, the garden's area is over 50,000 square metres and resembles something more akin to a public park than it does a garden. Don't let its name fool you, there's nothing particularly humble about this garden except its moniker.

Working your way through the garden's paths up to the pavilions and around the reflecting pools churning with schools of goldfish, you're poised to see one of the many rockeries on display in the garden. If you're traveling with children, this will undoubtedly be the highlight. These stone sculptures are carved to appear like naturally-occurring rock formations, but full of winding staircases and tunnels; they are the Ming Dynasty equivalent of a jungle gym. On the way out, be sure to catch a glimpse of the scale model of the complex in the museum, allowing you to get a sense of the garden's layout and design.

Kunqu Museum and Pingtan Museum

Just around the corner from each other on Zhangjiazhong Xiang, just off Pingjiang Lu, you'll find the Pingtan Museum and the Kunqu Museum. Pingtan is a form of traditional Chinese folk music featuring duets between a man and a woman typically concerning love and courtship. You'll know you've found the museum when you get to a bronze statue of three Qing Dynasty men and a rickshaw. The museum is concerned mostly with the history of the art form, often hosting (Chinese only) talks by pingtan professionals.

A little further down the road from Pingjiang Lu, you'll know you've found the Kunqu Musuem when you see an iron gate guarded by two stone lions. Kunqu is a form of traditional Chinese opera developed in Southern China. If you're lucky, when stepping inside the museum you'll be able to catch the practice or maybe even the performance of one of the local troupes.

Panmen Gate

It’s not surprising that this place made the list. Busy most of the time, it’s not a place to go to clear your mind. But despite its irritating popularity, its size and content makes it an absolute must when visiting Suzhou. With a massive pagoda in the centre of the garden and a sizable lake, Panmen is a pretty special place.

The Canglang Pavilion

Located opposite the temple, this often ignored, but thoroughly enjoyable, garden is a perfect remedy to the stresses of city of life.

Just off the main road, you could be forgiven for thinking that it would be a noisy and un-relaxing affair, but this place is a gem. In particular, the bamboo forest is a real treat, and something not many of the other gardens have to offer.

Suzhou Museum

The Suzhou Museum not only holds works of art, it is itself a work of art. Designed by the famed architect IM Pei, the central structure of the museum evokes traditional Suzhounese architecture while displaying Pei's unique, angular style. Whitewashed sections of walls framed by dark wooden joints create a kaleidoscopic series of acute triangles mirrored in a central reflecting pool, conjuring Suzhou's famed gardens, but also suggesting futurity.

While the structure itself points towards the future, the exhibits themselves remain firmly anchored in the past. The collection spans a massive time period from the Neolithic all the way through to the Qing Dynasty. Not to be missed is the collection of bamboo, wood and ivory carvings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. One carved elephant tusk displays dozens of figures crammed together in dizzying detail, a particularly fitting sight, no doubt, if you're visiting the museum on a busy day.

On the way out, you'll pass through the beautifully preserved Qing Dynasty home of Li Xiucheng, one of the commanders of the army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He's also called Zhong Wang or the “Loyal King” due to his refusal to take part in a plot to assassinate Hong Xiuquan, leader of the Taiping Rebellion.

The Couple’s Retreat Garden

Despite its name, this garden is not especially romantic. Apparently, the name comes from the fact that there are two gardens attached to the house, one to the east and one to the west. That being said, there are a lot of worse places you could take a loved one for a stroll. With beautiful scenery and a genuine sense of calm, this garden is a real treat. You can spend hours walking through the rockeries and trees letting your mind wander.