Suzhou 苏州

Suzhou is the correction to Shanghai's scale. The classical gardens are small on purpose; two in a day is plenty, three is a blur of rocks. The Humble Administrator's Garden is the famous one and the most crowded. A smaller garden plus a long walk on Pingjiang Road, with tea and a canal, is the better shape. The city is close enough to Shanghai for a day trip, and better as a night so the lanes empty after the coaches leave.

See

1. 1

   Humble Administrator's Garden 拙政园

   Book a morning entry. Go straight to the water courts before you photograph the first rock.

2. 2

   Pingjiang Road 平江路

   Canal street for walking, not for buying identical silk fans. Slip off it into the side lanes.

3. 3

   Master of the Nets Garden 网师园

   Smaller, tighter, often the one people remember. Evening performances exist; the garden itself is enough.

4. 4

   Suzhou Museum 苏州博物馆

   I. M. Pei's modern garden next door to the old ones. A good hour when you are gardened out.

Eat

• Squirrel fish 松鼠桂鱼

  Sweet-sour mandarin fish, deep-fried and lacquered. Share it. It is a banquet dish, not a snack.

• Noodle with eel or pork 苏式汤面

  A sober bowl of wheat noodles in a clear, soy-bright soup. This is the lunch that belongs here.

• Osmanthus and mung-bean cakes 桂花绿豆糕

  Buy a small box, not a kilo. The floral note should be faint.