Summary

Day 1 Suzhou: Master of Nets Garden, Panmen Gate, Hanshan Temple, Suzhou No.1 Silk Factory
Day 2 Suzhou: Zhouzhuang Water Town
Day 3 Suzhou-Nanjing-Suzhou by High Speed train: Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum, Linggu temple, Confucius Temple
Day 4 Suzhou-Wuxi-Suzhou by Car: Lingshan Buddha Scenic Area 

Day 1

In the Morning, our tour guide will pick you up at the exit of the train station or your hotel with a welcome signage "Suzhou Private Tour". And your four days tour starts.

 
Our Suzhou Pick Up Sign"Suzhou Private Tour"

You will start the tour with the famous classical garden-The Master of Nets Garden. The Garden is the smallest of the Suzhou residential gardens, yet it is the most impressive because of its use of space which creates the illusion of an area that is much greater than its actual size. The garden is divided into three sections: a residential section, the central main garden and an inner garden. The garden is especially fancied by overseas visitors and is praised as the most ornate and intact private gardens in Suzhou. Some tourists even offer a huge amount of money to buy it.

Afterwards, you will visit Hanshan temple (Cold Mountain Temple), is a Buddhist temple and monastery in Suzhou. Traditionally, Hanshan Temple is believed to have been founded during the Tianjian era (502–519) of the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang, in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. More than thousand years ago, a poet had described the midnight bell rings of Cold Mountain Temple. The temple is famous for its bell rings at night. The temple can be traced back to 6th century, and it was destroyed and repaired for times in history. A sitting statue of Buddha is in the main hall of the Hanshan Temple. On each side of the statue there are nine gold-plated Arhat statues, each with a different facial expression. If you come to visit them, you will definitely be touched by their life-like designs.

In the afternoon: After lunch, you will visit the Panmen Gate. Panmen Gate is part of the ancient city wall built in 514 BCE that surrounded and protected Suzhou. It is so famous for its complex of both land and water city gates that many times, people directly refer to it as the "Land and Water Gate". In order to attract more tourists, in recent years, the city of Suzhou has renovated the old wall and built many other attractions around the original gate in the Pan Gate Scenic Area.

The last spot is Suzhou Silk Factory. Suzhou is not only a garden city, but also a city with a long history of silk culture. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, Suzhou is the silk cente. The No.1 Silk Factory was built in Suzhou in 1926. It is divided into three parts: the exhibition hall which shows the history of Suzhou silk and some ancient collections; the working spot, where you can see how the silk is made and the product exhibition hall, exhibiting the main products of this factory, the silk wadding quilts. The factory gains a good reputation in the silk industry for its complete technical process of silkworm raising, cocoon sorting, cocoon boiling, and silk reeling, rewinding and packing. Suzhou first silk mill provides magic silk production and fashion show the whole process, so as to prove the Chinese silk glorious history. At the same time, it also describes the history of the development of Chinese silk response which further profound Chinese culture. In this factory you can not only see how the silk is processed from worm to the final product, but also learn some histories of silk in China.

Afterwards, drive you back to your hotel.

Day 2

In the morning, pick you up at your hotel lobby, drive you to Zhouzhuang Water Town. 

Take in the tranquil and scenic landscapes surrounding Zhouzhuang water town which is a hub of cultural history and well-preserved ancient architecture

Visit the Twin Bridges and the Old Drama Stage of Zhouzhuang. Walk through the old street and savor lunch at a local restaurant Fascinating to see the local life along the water’s edge by the canal cruise. Wander around Zhang House and Shen House and take in the beautiful surroundings at Fuan Bridge. Get informative commentary from a private guide who tailors the tour to your interests

After your trip ends, you will be taken back to your hotel.

Day 3

In the morning, pick up from your hotel lobby and take you to train station for your train to Nanjing with a welcome signage "Nanjing Private Tour". Upon arrival, our local guide will pick you up at the exit of the train station. One day tour in Nanjing includes the following activities:

Firstly, you will visit the tour with Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum: Dr. Sun Yat-sen is considered to be the rather of the Republic of China and forerunner of the Chinese Revolution. The Mausoleum were built on the central axis, along which the mausoleum rises gradually and squarely: marble dolmen, the pavilion, sacrificial hall and coffin chamber will come into view one by one, and perfectly demonstrate traditional Chinese architectural styles.

After lunch, visit Linggu temple, which was built in 514 during the Southern Dynasty as a burial site of the famous monk, Baozhi. It was described as’ the best Buddhist temple in the world’, now surrounded by a large park. 

The last stop is Confucius Temple: It was originally constructed in the year of 1034 in the Song Dynasty and was a place to worship and consecrate Confucius. The area around the temple consists of a series of tourist shops, snack bars, restaurants and tea cafes. They all appear to be in the architectural style of the Ming and Qing style. A variety of snacks encompassing eight of the most famous flavors are available for purchase at here.

After the tour ends, drive you to Nanjing train station and you return to Suzhou. Our driver will take you back to your hotel ocne you arrived in Suzhou.

Day 4

After breakfast, our tour guide will meet you at your hotel lobby and drive you to Wuxi Lingshan Buddha Scenic Area (around 1.5 hrs for one way).

Upon arrival, you will visit Lingshan Buddha. The Lingshan Grand Buddha one of the largest, tallest and most representative collections of Buddhism architecture and art in China, which is an 71-meter-high bronze statue of Sakyamuni in the open air, 17 meters higher than the Grand Buddha at Leshan. Lingshan Buddha was built between 713 and 803 (during the Tang Dynasty), depicting Maitreya.

Then move on to Wuyou Temple, located at the South of the Giant Buddha, which visitors pass on the way from the ferry to the Buddha. A pink-walled monastery founded in 742 AD, it has impressive decorations including splendid gate guardians, painted scenes from the Journey to the West (on the second hall) and amusing sculptures of arhats (inside the Louhan Hall).

On the other side of the gully on Lingyun Shan, there are signs for Han-dynasty tomb chambers, which suggest this site was sacred before the Buddha was carved.

Continue your tour to Nine-Dragon Fountain, it sit in front of the giant Buddha will startto play the music of trombones and the song of The Birth of Buddha at 10:00 am everyday. Huge lotus' slowly bloom with six petals, and a 7.2-meter gold-gilt prince statue of Buddha rise from the lotus, with one hand pointing to the sky and one hand pointing at the earth, symbolizing Buddha appearing from the blooming flower and Buddha's light shining on all things.

The final sight is Brahma Palace on Lingshan Mountain lasted for two years.Open to public in 2008, its splendid and marvellous design surprised every visitor. The whole palace shows the integration of the traditional cultural elements with western architectural features, embodying the extension, profoundness and loftiness of Buddhism. Many cultural heritage and art works can be found here.

After finished the sightseeing, you will be transferred back to Suzhou. And your four days excursion tour of Suzhou, Nanjing & Wuxi come to the end. Wish you enjoy your trip with us!

Price Per Person in US Dollars