Classical Gardens Circuit — Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Beyond, 12 days

Day by day

1. Day 1 · suzhou

   Arrival Suzhou, Humble Administrator's Garden morning, Lion Grove afternoon

   Arrive Suzhou from Shanghai (30 min HSR). Morning at the Humble Administrator's Garden (拙政园) — the largest and most celebrated of Suzhou's gardens, a Ming dynasty design of interconnected pools. Afternoon at the Lion Grove Garden (狮子林) — a Yuan dynasty garden famous for its labyrinthine taihu rock formations.

   Attractions: humble-administrators-garden, lion-grove-garden

   Stay in: Suzhou old city, near Pingjiang Road.

2. Day 2 · suzhou

   Lingering Garden, Master of Nets Garden

   Morning at the Lingering Garden (留园) — an encyclopaedic garden with four distinct sections, exceptional taihu stones including the Crowned Cloud Peak (冠云峰). Evening visit to the Master of Nets Garden (网师园) — the smallest major Suzhou garden, most effective when visited in the evening for the traditional music performance.

   Attractions: lingering-garden, master-of-nets-garden

   Stay in: Suzhou.

3. Day 3 · suzhou

   Cangjie Pavilion Garden, Tiger Hill, Pingjiang Road

   Morning at Cangjie Pavilion (沧浪亭) — the oldest of the four major Suzhou gardens, Sung dynasty in origin, with unusually direct engagement with the surrounding canal. Tiger Hill (虎丘) and its leaning pagoda. Evening walking Pingjiang Road historic canal street.

   Attractions: tiger-hill-suzhou

   Stay in: Suzhou.

4. Day 4 · suzhou

   Tongli Water Town, Garden of Cultivation

   Day trip to Tongli (同里) — a canal town 18km from Suzhou, less touristed than Zhouzhuang. Garden of Cultivation (艺圃) in Tongli. Return to Suzhou for dinner.

   Attractions: tongli-water-town, garden-of-cultivation

   Stay in: Suzhou.

5. Day 5 · yangzhou

   HSR to Yangzhou, Slender West Lake

   Morning HSR to Zhenjiang, then bus to Yangzhou. Slender West Lake (瘦西湖) — Yangzhou's famous elongated lake garden, with a sequence of pavilions, bridges, and planted shores modelled partly on Hangzhou's West Lake. Historically the pleasure garden of Qing dynasty salt merchants.

   Stay in: Yangzhou city centre.

   HSR Suzhou → Zhenjiang 45 min, ¥55; then bus Zhenjiang → Yangzhou 40 min.

6. Day 6 · yangzhou

   He Garden, Ge Garden, Yangzhou cuisine

   He Garden (何园) — a late Qing mansion garden with a famous two-tiered walkway. Ge Garden (个园) — named for the bamboo that resembles the character 个. Yangzhou is famous for its cuisine: lion's head meatball (狮子头), crab-roe noodles, and Huaiyang-style tofu dishes.

   Stay in: Yangzhou.

7. Day 7 · nanjing

   Bus to Nanjing, Xuanwu Lake

   Morning bus to Nanjing. Xuanwu Lake — the large urban lake enclosed within the Ming city walls. Afternoon at the Nanjing Museum for the famous Han dynasty jade burial suit and Tang imperial porcelain.

   Stay in: Nanjing.

   Bus Yangzhou → Nanjing, 2h.

8. Day 8 · shaoxing

   HSR to Shaoxing, Shen Garden, Lu Xun Hometown

   Morning HSR south. Shaoxing — a canal city with strong literary associations. Shen Garden (沈园) where the Song poet Lu You wrote his famous poem to his former wife Tang Wan. Lu Xun's birthplace and the setting of his short story Hometown.

   Stay in: Shaoxing.

   HSR Nanjing → Shaoxing North, 2h, ¥170.

9. Day 9 · hangzhou

   HSR to Hangzhou, West Lake afternoon

   Morning HSR to Hangzhou (30 min). West Lake (西湖) — the standard against which Chinese landscape gardens are measured. Afternoon walking the Su Causeway (苏堤) and visiting the Leifeng Pagoda on the southern shore.

   Attractions: west-lake-hangzhou, lei-feng-pagoda

   Stay in: Hangzhou, lakeside.

   HSR Shaoxing → Hangzhou East 30 min, ¥35.

10. Day 10 · hangzhou

    West Lake — north shore gardens, China Tea Museum

    Morning at the Guo's Villa Garden (郭庄) on the West Lake north shore — the finest private garden still surviving in Hangzhou. China National Tea Museum in Longjing village. Tea ceremony and Longjing (Dragon Well) green tea tasting.

    Attractions: west-lake-cultural-landscape, china-national-tea-museum

    Stay in: Hangzhou.

11. Day 11 · hangzhou

    Lingyin Temple, Six Harmonies Pagoda

    Lingyin Temple (灵隐寺) — one of the largest Buddhist complexes in China, with 470 Song-dynasty cliff carvings in the Flight of Clouds grottoes. Six Harmonies Pagoda (六和塔) on the Qiantang River — eight-storey Song pagoda built to calm the tidal bore.

    Attractions: lingyin-temple, six-harmonies-pagoda

    Stay in: Hangzhou.

12. Day 12 · hangzhou

    Wuzhen Water Town, departure

    Day trip north to Wuzhen (乌镇) — a canal town preserved as a living heritage site; the evening lights on the water make it most atmospheric. Return to Hangzhou or Shanghai for departure.

    Attractions: wuzhen-water-town

    Bus Hangzhou → Wuzhen 1.5h; return and fly from HGH or take HSR to Shanghai 45 min.

Budget guide (CNY per day)

Per person 12 days. Individual garden tickets ¥30–90 each. Combo tickets available in Suzhou. Wuzhen ¥180 day ticket. Lingyin Temple ¥45 plus rock carvings ¥45. HSR transport approximately ¥600 total.