3 Days Shanghai Suzhou Highlights Tour By Bullet Train

Summary

DAY 1 Shanghai: Nanjing Road, Shanghai Bund, Night Boat Cruise on Huangpu River
DAY 2 Shanghai: Shanghai Museum, Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai Bazaar, Shanghai Jinmao Tower, Old French Concession, Tianzifang
DAY 3 Shanghai--Suzhou by Bullet Train: Humble Administrator's Garden, Canglang Pavilion, Tiger Hill, Pingjiang Road, Suzhou No.1 Silk Factory

DAY 1

Upon your arrive in Shanghai, our tour guide will pick you up at the exit of Shanghai airport with a welcome signage "Shanghai Private Tour". And you will be escorted to your hotel directly. Our tour guide will help you check in. You can have a short rest in the hotel.

Our Shanghai Pick Up Sign "Shanghai Private Tour"

At around 5:30PM, our tour guide will meet you at your hotel lobby. Firstly, visit Nanjing Road: When people mention Shanghai's Nanjing Road,they're probably talking about East Nanjing Road,a pedestrian shopping street running for blocks between the northeast corner of People's Square and the Bund. Nanjing Road, 5.5 km in full length, enjoys the reputation as China No. 1 commercial center. It was the earliest commercial street in Shanghai since the city opened to the outside world.On both sides of the street, there are more than 360 malls, department stores, specialized shops, restaurants and cultural and recreational facilities, which receive more than 1.5 million customers everyday. In the day - time, the street is crowned with visitors and when the night falls, the colorful neon lights make the street more attractive.

Then head to the Bund: For many years, the bund is the face of Shanghai. On the Bund is group of building known as "a Gallery of world architecture" of different architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism and the Renaissance. These buildings were built respectively during the 20s and 40s of the 20th century with different architectural styles but were well harmonized. The buildings are all decorated with floodlights. At night, the Bund is brightly lit, glittering and dazzling to the eye. It is the symbol and mark of Shanghai.

Finally, Night Boat Cruise on Huangpu River: The 'mother river' of Shanghai, the Huangpu River is the symbol and embodiment of Shanghai, just like the Thames of London, the Seine of Paris and the Danube of Budapest. This river is synonymous with the History of Shanghai, being inextricably intertwined with the social and economic life of the city and having nurtured its prosperity and witnessed its honors and disgraces. The Huangpu River is a must for travelers to Shanghai. The Huangpu River divides Shanghai into two parts – east and west. 

Drive you back to your hotel after finished.

DAY 2

After breakfast, you will continue your tour to Shanghai Museum. Located on the People's Square of Huangpu District, Shanghai Museum is a large and renowned museum collecting over 120,000 precious artistic relics from more than 5,000 years ago to the Qing dynasty. Besides the marvelous bronze, ceramics, paintings and calligraphies, those valuable jades, coins, Chinese seals, furniture, sculptures, exhibitions of minority nationalities also offer you the best chance to understand the profound Chinese history and culture.

Next to Yuyuan Garden. Yuyuan Garden is an extensive Chinese garden located beside the City God Temple in heart of the old city of Shanghai. Yuyuan Garden is near a famous old tea house with a zigzag bridge, is one of the best gardens in China. The garden was originally made, in 1559, for a retired scholar-administrator, but has often been damaged and rebuilt. Many of the garden features are excellent: the dragon wall, the moon gate, the long roofed corridor-bridge and a brilliant collection of garden windows and doors. The artificial mountain, made of yellow rocks, is thought to survive from the original design and to be the work of Zhang Nanyang.

Next to Shanghai Bazaar. It is used to be a City God Temple located in the south of Yuyuan Garden. But now it is a street, called Miaoqian Street, is an old business street that has a combination of tourist attractions, shops, entertainment and cultural exhibits. It owes its special social attractions and rich commercial background to the fact that the earliest bank, gold shop, jeweler's store, wine shop and tea house of Shanghai were all to be found here.

Later, cotinue your tour to Shanghai Jinmao Tower.  Shanghai Jinmao Tower is also known as the Jinmao Building or Jinmao Tower, is an 88-story (93 if counting the floors in the spire) landmark skyscraper in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai, China. It is 420.5 metres (1,380 feet) tall and is one of the tallest buildings in the world. It contains a shopping mall, offices and the Grand Hyatt Shanghai hotel, which at the time of completion was the highest hotel in the world. Along with the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Shanghai Tower it is part of the Lujiazui skyline seen from the Bund. Taking the elevator to the 88-storey Observation Deck of Jinmao Tower to have a bird's eye view of Huangpu River.

Old Frech Concession. was a foreign concession in Shanghai from 1849 until 1943, which progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The concession came to an end in 1943 when the French State under German pressure signed it over to the pro-Japanese Reorganized National Government of China in Nanjing. For much of the 20th century, the area covered by the former French Concession remained the premier residential and retail district of Shanghai, and was also one of the centres of Catholicism in China. Despite re-development over the last few decades, the area retains a distinct character, now it's tree-lined avenues and their many Tudor mansions still retain an air of the "Paris of the East" is a popular tourist destination in Shanghai.

At last, take a leisure walk on Tianzifang Street. Tianzifang is an artsy area that has developed from a renovated residential area (old Shanghai shikumen buildings) in the French Concession area of Shanghai. Now it houses bars, cafes, crafts shops, design studios, galleries and boutiques. Many local residents still live in the narrow lanes. Just be mindful and respect their privacy.

Drive you back to your hotel after today's tour ends.

DAY 3

In the morning, our driver will drive you to Shanghai train station and you take train to Suzhou (it takes around 30 minutes from Shanghai to Suzhou via train). After arrived, our Suzhou local tour guide will pcik you up at the exit of the train station with a welcome signage "Suzhou Private Tour". 

Our Suzhou Pick Up Sign "Suzhou Private Tour"

Your Suzhou tour will begin with the Humble Administrator's Garden. Humble Administrator's Garden is the largest private garden in Suzhou with a total area of 51,950 square meters (5.2 hectares) in the northeastern part of Suzhou. It has been listed as one of the four most famous national classic gardens together with the Summer Palace, Mountain Summer Resort in Chengde and Lingering Garden of Suzhou. The garden consists of Eastern, Central and Western sections as well as some residences of the former owners. The art of the Humble Administrator's Garden has a prominent position in the history of China's garden creation. It represents the historical characteristics and achievements of south-east China's private gardens.

Move on to Canglang Pavilion, it variously translated as the Great Wave Pavilion, Surging Wave Pavilion, or Blue Wave Pavilion, is one of the Classical Gardens of Suzhou that are jointly recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the oldest among the existing classical gardens in Suzhou and also one of the four most famous gardens in the city -- the others being the Shizilin (Lion Grove), Zhuozhengyuan (Humble Administrator's Garden) and Liuyuan (Lingering Garden). Situated in the southwest quadrant of the city, it is located directly to the west of the Confucian temple. The garden underwent numerous renovations in the centuries to follow, but retains its essential form.

Tiger Hill is also famous as Surging Sea Hill because of its natural beauty. The hill extends over an area of 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) and is 36 meters (118 feet) in height. Though small in size, Tiger Hill is provided with a great many gorgeous scenes, historical sites, numerous towering ancient trees, and a Tiger Hill Pagoda on the top of the hill. You will find lots of historical sites some of which can be traced back over 2500 years to the founding of Suzhou. The Tiger Hill has been known as No. 1 Sight of Suzhou. It is a must for tourists. The great Song literary man Su Dongpo said, "It would be a pity if you had been to Suzhou but didn't get to visit the Tiger Hill." As a showcase of Suzhou and one of the first ten exemplary civilized tourist attractions of China.

For an authentic taste of city life in old Suzhou, a stroll down Pingjiang Historic Street, which is a great way to get acquainted with the local vibe. Quiet, leafy and slow-paced, the street is lined with old Chinese houses as well as restaurants and teahouses serving traditional foods and drinks. What's more, there are a variety of upscale cafes catering to the chic crowd at each corner. You can taste a few traditional Chinese snacks while your guide tells you more about the history of the street.

At last, take you to Suzhou No.1 Silk Factory, it was built in Suzhou in 1926. It is divided into three parts: the exhibition hall which shows the history of Suzhou silk and some ancient collections; the working spot, where you can see how the silk is made; and the product exhibition hall, exhibiting the main products of this factory, the silk wadding quilts. The factory gains a good reputation in the silk industry for its complete technical process of silkworm raising, cocoon sorting, cocoon boiling, and silk reeling, rewinding and packing. Suzhou first silk mill provides magic silk production and fashion show the whole process, so as to prove the Chinese silk glorious history. At the same time, it also describes the history of the development of Chinese silk response which further profound Chinese culture. In this factory you can not only see how the silk is processed from worm to the final product, but also learn some histories of silk in China.

After the tour ends, drive you to Suzhou train station and your return to Shanghai. Once you arrived, you will be taken back to your hotel in Shanghai.

There are some useful tips for you to purchase Train Ticket between Shanghai & Suzhou:

From Shanghai to Suzhou:
Option 1: G7104 Shanghai Hongqiao Station to Suzhou Station: Depart at 08:54AM and arrive at 09:30AM
Option 2: G7006 Shanghai Station to Suzhou Station: Depart at 09:00AM and arrive at 09:25AM
Please choose one of the above options according to your hotel location

From Suzhou to Shanghai
Option 1: G7119 Depart at 17:56 from Suzhou Station and arrive at Shanghai Hongqiao Station at 18:32
Option 2: G7243 Depart at 18:02 from Suzhou Station and arrive at Shanghai Station at 18:27

Price Per Person in US Dollars