3 days
Day 1: Nanjing — Ming Tomb, Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Nanjing Massacre Memorial. Day 2: Suzhou — Humble Administrator's Garden + Lingering Garden + Pingjiang Road. Day 3: Tongli or Zhouzhuang water town.
Province · East China
Jiangsu
江苏省 · Jiāngsū Shěng — capital Nanjing, jiangsu / huaiyang (refined knife work, sweet-savoury, yangzhou fried rice, lion's head meatballs).
History & character
Jiangsu wraps the Yangtze delta — the wealthiest, most densely populated, and most agriculturally productive part of China for the past thousand years. Nanjing was the capital of six dynasties spanning 1,800 years, the Republic of China's capital from 1927 to 1937 and again briefly post-war. Suzhou's classical gardens — UNESCO listed — represent the apex of Ming–Qing literati garden design. The water towns of Tongli, Zhouzhuang, Mudu, and Luzhi preserve canal-and-stone-bridge networks that the Grand Canal made possible from the 7th century onwards.
Modern Jiangsu is one of China's manufacturing powerhouses. Suzhou Industrial Park, the Wuxi/Jiangyin metalworks, the Changshu textile mills — these are major nodes in the country's GDP. Yet the province retains its cultural depth: Nanjing's universities, Suzhou's silk and embroidery workshops, Yangzhou's classical kitchens, and the Kunqu opera tradition that originated here all remain active.
When to visit
April for cherry blossom in Nanjing. October for autumn light on Suzhou's gardens. November for hairy crab. Avoid late June (plum rain) and the National Day holiday (1–7 October — gardens packed).
How to get there
Nanjing Lukou (NKG), Wuxi Sunan Shuofang (WUX), and Yangzhou Taizhou (YTY) are the main airports. HSR is dense — Nanjing to Shanghai 1h, Suzhou to Shanghai 25 min, Beijing to Nanjing 3h30m.
Key cities
All cities →More cities in Jiangsu
More attractions in Jiangsu
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou (UNESCO)
- Couple's Retreat Garden
- Garden of Cultivation
- Humble Administrator's Garden
- Lingering Garden
- Lion Grove Garden
- Master of Nets Garden
- Migratory Bird Sanctuaries along the Coast of Yellow Sea and Bohai Gulf of China (Phase I)
- Tiger Hill (Huqiu)
- Tongli Water Town
- Zhouzhuang Water Town
Sample itineraries
7 days
Add Yangzhou (Slender West Lake, classical kitchens), Wuxi (Lake Tai), Zhenjiang, the Suzhou Industrial Park's modern art museums.
Dishes of Jiangsu
- Beggar's Chicken叫花鸡
A whole chicken stuffed with aromatics, wrapped in lotus leaves and clay, then slow-baked until the meat steams in its own juices.
- Drunken Chicken醉鸡
Chicken steamed and marinated in Shaoxing rice wine, served chilled. A Shanghai banquet starter.
- Eight-Treasure Rice八宝饭
A steamed dome of glutinous rice layered with red bean paste and decorated with eight types of preserved fruits and nuts.
- Hairy Crab大闸蟹
Yangcheng Lake mitten crab — the autumn delicacy of the Yangtze Delta. Eaten steamed with vinegar dip.
- Hairy Crab with Rice Cake年糕炒大闸蟹
Autumn hairy crab stir-fried with chewy Shanghai rice cake slices in a savoury-sweet ginger sauce.
- Lion's Head Meatballs狮子头
Large pork meatballs (the size of a lion's head) braised in clear broth with cabbage. A Yangzhou banquet centrepiece.
Itineraries touching Jiangsu
- Shanghai–Suzhou–Hangzhou triangle in 5 days
5d · Two days in Shanghai, a day and a half in Suzhou's classical gardens, then West Lake and Hangzhou.
- Water towns circuit in 5 days
5d · Shanghai to Tongli to Wuzhen to Zhujiajiao — four of the Yangtze Delta's most visited canal towns in a compact loop, using a Shanghai base with day excursions and one overnight in Wuzhen.
- Vegetarian and vegan China in 7 days
7d · Hangzhou (Buddhist vegetarian temples) to Putuoshan (sacred Buddhist island) to Suzhou to Shanghai. A seven-day itinerary following the tradition of Chinese Buddhist vegetarian cuisine, with reliable meat-free and vegan options at each stop.
- Classical gardens circuit in 7 days
7d · Suzhou (Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, Master of Nets) to Yangzhou (Geyuan, Heyuan) to Hangzhou. A focused circuit around China's most significant private garden tradition, pairing the UNESCO-listed Suzhou gardens with the less-visited Yangzhou examples and Hangzhou's West Lake landscape.
Other East China regions
Verified May 2026
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