Suzhou: Send Oxygen! This Trip is Choking Me.

[Reginald Ziemann]

Upon returning from Suzhou, I feel a bit… how do I put it - suffocating! However, let me be clear that this is not an indication that Suzhou itself is bad. I’ll start by highlighting the awesome aspects of my experience here:

• Degree of Commercialization: It's actually alright!

  • Many people complain that Suzhou has been overly commercialized. I, however, think it’s fine; it’s no different from Kyoto in Japan which is also overly commercialized (as are most tourist cities). Nevertheless, Suzhou still retains much of its charming features of Jiangnan water towns while preserving historical buildings and creating a strong cultural atmosphere.
    • Note for Foreign Friends: "Jiangnan" refers to regions south of the Yangtze River and is renowned for its water towns, gardens, and prosperity, with Suzhou being a typical Jiangnan city.

• Scenic Beauty That Cannot Be Described:

  • Suzhou is really stunning! I have never seen such a breathtaking place in my life! I strongly advise picking a day with fewer crowds to explore Suzhou’s gardens; you will surely be enchanted by its charm!

• Deep Historical and Cultural Heritage:

  • The museums and art galleries of Suzhou really impressed me with their excellent standards which are more than just at a municipal level, but national standards. There were so many virtuous scholars and skilled craftsmen in history that came from here! Since ancient times, it was known as "Fish and Rice Region," rich in products and prosperity, where one hears the sweet-sounding "Wu-speaking" dialect, Kunqu opera, Pingtan, known local theatrical art, Biluochun tea, an influential green tea, along with Suzhou embroidery, New Year pictures, clay-plastic sculptures etc., all regarded as cultural treasures!

• Economically Thriving:

  • Suzhou has subway services, and the tall and modern "Eastern Gate", which looks like large, modern building; it is pretty amazing! It's rare for a city to develop economically while preserving its cultural heritage to such a degree. In the final photo, you can faintly see the distant Eastern Gate, resembling geese flying over and looks so beautiful!

That’s it for the praise; I’ll now start my criticism - which may sound a bit direct, please accept it with an open mind. In my honest opinion, Suzhou’s travel experience was truly worrying among all my solo trips…

• Visitor Quality, uh… (Warning! High-sensitivity Content!):
  • For example, while visiting a garden, people flipped over barriers and casually sat on old antique chairs for photoshoots; it was rather uncomfortable seeing this behavior!
    • Attention: Many things within gardens hold historical significance as valuable antiques! It’s important to follow regulations and not touch or cross barriers without permission.
  • Sometimes, while walking on the street, I would see elderly people spitting on the ground, which made me feel the air quality had deteriorated somehow.
    • Friendly Reminder: Perhaps this is simply an older generation habit that may make some visitors uncomfortable which masks can help cover up.
  • I originally planned to experience urban cycling in Suzhou; however, …the experience turned out to be terrible! As I waited at a red light, people behind me honked me madly, piling pressure on everyone. Sometimes, sounds of horns made me think of suffering a heart attack.
    • (Some background information: People told me that I might block their way because of my riding. However, I solemnly declare that I tried very hard to stay careful!) Whenever I heard honks, I assumed I had blocked their way and thus hurriedly checked behind me. In fact, there was actually no one there, so those honks made me extremely anxious and nervous. This was the most stifling part of my trip.
    • Cycling Warning: The traffic volume in certain areas of Suzhou is great, and drivers may drive more aggressively, with loud honk sounds being frequent. If you are sensitive to the chaotic traffic environment, or if your cycling skills are average, it is suggested to carefully choose where to cycle or only cycle on less crowded places.
  • Within the art gallery, groups of children made noises and rambled about. Their teachers neither managed them nor cared. It really left me feeling despondent about visiting exhibitions.
    • Visiting Information: If you want to quietly enjoy visiting attractions, avoid peak visiting time, or perhaps use noise-canceling headphones. There will be a lot of noise wherever there are crowds.
  • When queuing for stamping at tourist attractions, there were always people jumping the queue; same thing when waiting for buses… everywhere is full of people jumping the queue, jumping the queue, jumping the queue.
    • Queuing Knowledge: The act of jumping queues is more common in crowded places. We can try reminding people politely or let go of things and just take a deep breath.

I am genuinely sad because Suzhou is indeed more advanced than Osaka in Japan, and more classical than Kyoto, both in culture and economy. Someone who looks down upon Suzhou is only showing their own ignorance and arrogance. As a Chinese person and resident, I am profoundly proud of Suzhou.
As perfect and good as this city is, its travel experience is hard to describe with words… I’m just sighing deeply!

[Dr. Mandy Walter-Reichert]

P.S. Suzhou is definitely worth visiting. But you absolutely need to plan your trip well (you can check out my new post on other Suzhou museums for tips). Suzhou is a vibrant cultural experience, a must-visit for anyone interested in history and culture. I've been to the national museums in Thailand and Japan, and I feel the Suzhou Museum (both the main and west branches) is genuinely on par with them. So when I say the Suzhou Museum is practically national-level, not just city-level, I truly mean it.

[Mr. Ryan Hermann]

The museum is indeed great. I only visited the West Branch, and it was really impressive.

[Ms. Alberta Moen]

Planning to visit Suzhou for the May Day holiday, and I've already seen so many posts about its traffic issues.

[Barry Kuphal]

Definitely don't go during May Day; the travel experience will be severely compromised, I'm not kidding. When I went during a public holiday, it was incredibly crowded. That's why I made a point to get up super early for the gardens. Initially, there weren't many people, so I had a great time exploring. But later, it got packed. The gardens were full of inconsiderate elderly people jostling for photo spots, and kids were screaming their heads off. It was awful. I honestly just wanted to escape.

[Miss Angela Cormier]

As a Suzhou local, I regret to say that the suffocating crowds are all tourists. We locals don't even dare to go out anymore. It's practically impossible to get reservations for any of the museums or gardens.

[Iris Marquardt]

It's mostly locals riding electric scooters, right?

[Ms. Alberta Moen]

I totally get why some people want to avoid Suzhou. I'm a local, and during May Day, I tried to visit Cang Street. The moment I stepped out of Xiangmen subway station, my head was just buzzing – there were way too many people!! I instantly got irritable and angry, turned right around, and went to the Shemen area for a meal. It was much less crowded there, and my mood improved significantly. But the crowds aren't really Suzhou's fault, are they? I just hope those planning to visit consider their own tolerance levels for crowds and narrow streets, and whether that might spoil their mood.

[Johnathan Schmeler]

When is it less crowded?

[Ms. Wanda Kilback]

The traffic in downtown Suzhou is truly awful; I bet even the locals find it a headache. Yesterday, while walking around Shiquan Street, I heard at least 10 delivery e-scooters blaring their horns and blasting disco music... At first, I encountered one or two and thought it was just an isolated incident, but then I realized it's quite common for delivery guys to blast music. As for cycling, I wouldn't even dare to try – too many people, too many cars, and narrow roads make it incredibly difficult.

[Mr. Ryan Hermann]

Exactly! Suzhou delivery guys all seem to have subwoofers on their scooters. I've never seen anything like it in other cities, haha!

[Miss Angela Cormier]

Saying Suzhou's museum feels national-level rather than just city-level – are you serious? If you're praising the architecture, that's by I.M. Pei, and it's indeed good. But if you're talking about the exhibits inside, then forget it. As a local museum enthusiast, I don't even bother going much. Besides the relics from Ruiguang Pagoda, what else is there? It can't compare at all to museums in Sichuan/Chongqing or northern China.

[Elsa Wyman]

I genuinely think it's national-level. It could easily outshine museums in Singapore and Malaysia, and it's comparable to Thailand's. But perhaps within China, it's not considered top-tier, given that China's historical depth is among the greatest in the world.

[Mattie Lockman]

All those annoying behaviors you mentioned? Those are from out-of-town tourists. Locals don't even go to the tourist spots.

[Franklin Weimann IV]

It doesn't matter where they're from; what matters is that nobody's managing the situation.

[Dr. Guadalupe Homenick]

The traffic is genuinely terrible. Cars on the road don't yield to pedestrians, and as soon as there's a jam, the horns start blaring non-stop.

[Karen Bruen]

Seriously, it's rare you'd even hear a single car horn in downtown Shanghai.

[Antoinette Ferry]

I originally had no plans to visit Japan due to historical grievances, but after reading these comments, I'm finding out that people in Suzhou can be quite unwelcoming and unfriendly to outsiders.