Suzhou: Beautiful, But All Those 'Little Sights'... Just a Bit 'Meh'?
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Sure, here is the translation:
"The following will help friends who plan to visit Suzhou, especially those coming from abroad!
#Humble Administrator's Garden #Suzhou Museum #Jichang Temple #Xi Yuan Temple
I recently visited several places in Suzhou for two days, such as Xi Yuan Temple(also called Jichang Temple), Shantang Street(a well-known ancient street), Humble Administrator's Garden(a very famous classical garden) and Suzhou Museum.
Suzhou Museum
- Honestly speaking, as a museum with limited space, its exhibits lack a clear theme.
- If you visit purely because of the architecture (designed by I.M. Pei, who designed the glass pyramid of the Louvre in Paris!), you might find it a bit uninteresting.
Humble Administrator's Garden
- It has been said to have "scenic spots every step". Each angle looks beautiful. However, as it used to be a private garden of rich people, the scenic spots inside are delicate and small.
- The photos I took here were pretty, but the experience in person was not especially special.
Complaints about Key Areas & Tips!
- Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou Museum, Lion Grove (another famous garden known for its artificial rockeries), and Pingjiang Road(a historical street along a river) are close to each other.
- Warning:
- The area is commercialized with many shops, affecting the experience.
- It gets very crowded because of the concentration of tourists around these景点本身不算特别大，但一出来就是各种各样的商店，游客也超级多，可能会感觉很拥挤，有点喘不过来气。
- How to handle it: Try to avoid weekends, holiday peak periods, or visit first thing in the morning.
Xi Yuan Temple (an Unexpected Surprise)
- This temple gave me a pleasant surprise! Although not particularly empty, the temple atmosphere helps calm your mind.
- It has cute animals like cats and pigeons, bringing sense of nature, interesting. (Small hint: the vegetarian noodles here are said to be delicious!)
Overall Impression
- Suzhou is a popular tourism city which I can understand. When transportation was less convenient before, having all attractions close together was an advantage— even Huqiu (another famous scenery with an ancient tilt tower like that of Pisa) is close to the city center.
- But now, with advanced transportation, there are so many better places than Suzhou.
- Another point is the lack of "slow life" feel in Suzhou (which is well done by neighboring Yangzhou). In Yangozhu, I felt very relaxed because of the slower living pace there. Suzhou feels a bit similar to Shanghai — everything is neat and beautiful but not very relaxing."
In case you have any suggestion or need me to explain something more.
(Simplifying some complex sentences and keeping the flow of language smooth, the translated text aims to be friendly and understandable.)
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What you said reminds me of a passage from Yu Qiuyu's 'White-Haired Suzhou': Suzhou lacks the imperial grandeur of Jinling (Nanjing). There are no imposing palaces here, only gardens. It's not a place for battlefields; only a few city gates were built, almost in vain. Its winding alleys cannot accommodate grand official sedan chairs, and its local customs don't revere harsh prohibitions. Here, the water is too clear, the peach blossoms too vibrant, the music and singing a bit too alluring. The snacks are too sweet, the women too pretty, the teahouses too numerous, the bookshops too dense. The calligraphy is too fluid, the paintings lack a desolate, vigorous power, and the poetry misses the deep, husky tones of a tragic hero from Yi River. Thus, Suzhou, bearing all these 'accusations,' sits quietly, welcoming and seeing off visitors, living its days contentedly, yet unwilling to 'dress up' and accept that kingly aura.
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No city in Jiangsu has escaped criticism from tourists. But so what? Those who love these cities will love them regardless. Little more needs to be said; most are just passing through.
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You probably haven't been to Wuxi then. Suzhou might be more famous, but Wuxi boasts both exquisite gardens and majestic natural scenery—it's even more beautiful.
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I've been to Wuxi and absolutely loved it.
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Whenever I see comments like this, I can't help but wonder about the kind of privileged background these people must have, or what kind of amazing places they live in, to be so critical of everything they see.
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Perhaps they live in the Old Summer Palace or something.
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Suzhou is known for its refined elegance, but it also offers expansive, beautiful scenery, such as the landscapes around Taihu Lake.
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And Suzhou's Shihu Lake.
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You shouldn't spend all your time just having fun; you really ought to make some time for reading too.
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Manually upvoting this comment!
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The beauty of 'a new scene at every step' is best appreciated when there are fewer people, allowing one to stroll alone and savor it slowly. But now, these tiny places are packed with so many tourists, it's just noisy and chaotic. Who's in the mood to appreciate anything? Even if you try, you're completely blocked by the crowds. Plus, you constantly have to watch your step to avoid falling into the water. And those railings on the stone bridges are a real eyesore. I have to specifically call out Lion Grove Garden – it's unattractive, not enjoyable, and they still dare to charge an entrance fee!
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Lion Grove Garden is actually quite nice! It's home to the largest surviving ancient rockery complex in China, and they often host flower exhibitions there.
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Hi, for the Suzhou Museum, did you go in the morning or the afternoon?
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I went in the morning back then.
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You can't appreciate the beauty of Suzhou with an impatient or superficial mindset; it requires a certain cultural understanding.
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You should appreciate a place for what it offers. When in Suzhou, aren't you there for its famous gardens with their 'scene-changes-at-every-step' design? You can't expect to find the kind of vast, desolate landscapes of Western Sichuan here, can you?
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Suzhou is terrible! Can you believe it doesn't even have deserts, the Gobi, or birch forests?
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And no Great Wall either.