Suzhou Highlights Private Day Trip: Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou Museum, Panmen Gate, Tiger Hill & Shantang Street

Tour Highlights
• Wander through Humble Administrator's Garden, the finest garden in all of southern China
• Take your time at the Suzhou Museum, designed by the universally well-known architect Mr. Ieoh Ming Pei
• Visit Panmen Gate, the oldest city gate of Suzhou and the only existing water and land gate in China
• Admire Tiger Hill, the oldest pagoda in Suzhou (2,500 years old) nicknamed the Leaning Tower of China
• Stroll along Shantang Street, a window of Wu Culture and a platform to experience the lifestyle of Suzhou

About This Tour
• Departure: Daily departing from Suzhou
• Tour Duration: Approximately 8 hours.
• Guide Languages: Chinese & English.
• Pickup Time: Between 07:00 and 10:00, choose a departure time most suitable for you.
• Pickup & Drop-off Place: Your accommodation in Suzhou
• Advice on Meals: Lunch is not included in this tour. We recommend having a substantial breakfast and bringing snacks in case you get hungry while sightseeing. If you'd like to experience authentic local cuisine for lunch, feel free to inform your guide, who will be happy to assist.

Tour Itinerary at a Glance
• Pick up from your accommodation in Suzhou
• Visit Humble Administrator's Garden
• Visit Suzhou Museum
• Lunch on your own
• Visit Panmen Gate
• Visit Tiger Hill
• Stroll along Shantang Street
• Transfer back to your accommodation in Suzhou

Price Remark
• Prices are not valid during National Day (Oct 1-7), Chinese New Year, and Labor Day (May 1-5).

Price Inclusions
• Professional English language speaking tour guide.
• Air-conditioned vehicle with an experienced driver.
• Admission tickets to sightseeing places.
• All government taxes.

Price Exclusions
• Hotel accommodation.
• Meals are excluded allowing you flexibility on menu.
• Your personal expenses.
• Travel insurance is not included. Please purchase before your trip to provide for any unforeseen circumstances.
• Gratuities to guide & driver. They are customary and would be of great encouragement and reward for quality service.

Additional Information
• Confirmation will be received at the time of booking.
• Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately.
• The itinerary is subject to change due to traffic conditions or bad weather.
• The itinerary is flexible; changes can be made upon written request from travelers.
• IMPORTANT: It is required by the government regulations that travelers must provide their name, gender, nationality, passport number and date of birth to their tour operator upon booking a tour. Failure to do so could result in being denied access or admittance to sites and attractions during sightseeing. When you book this tour, please complete all required fields at checkout. Please bring your passport with you on the tour.

Cancellation Policy
• Cancellations made 24 hours prior to the scheduled departure time will receive a 100% refund.
• Cancellations made within 24 hours of the tour's start time or after the tour begins are non-refundable.
• Cancellation request will be confirmed within 2-5 business days, with refunds issued within 14 working days.

Tailor This Tour to Meet Your Needs
• If you want to customize this itinerary, contact us via WhatsApp (+86 139 1083 0737) or email (info@GrandChinaTravel.com). We'll create a tailor-made tour package just for you.

Know Before You Go
• Keep your passport with you throughout the tour; it may be needed to buy entrance tickets.
• Pickup time, guide's name, and contact information will be confirmed via WhatsApp or email.
• Your guide will be at the meeting point, holding a GGC pickup sign with your name.
• Meals are not included; please feel free to ask your guide for recommendations.
• If you book an Airbnb, please note that door-to-door pickup and drop-off might not be provided.
• There's a 20-minute grace period for waiting. Failure to show up will result in tour cancellation & no refund.

Hotel Pickup & Transfer to Humble Administrator's Garden
Your private guide will be holding GoGrandChina pickup sign and waiting for you in your hotel lobby (or other appointed meeting place) at the appointed time. You will be transferred to Humble Administrator's Garden in a comfortable private vehicle.

Visit Humble Administrator's Garden
As one of four great Chinese gardens, the Humble Administrator's Garden is the largest garden in Suzhou and generally regarded as the finest garden in the southern China. Along with other classical gardens of Suzhou City, the Humble Administrator's Garden was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. This garden was founded in 1513 by Wang Xiancheng, a former Imperial official and poet who built the garden to show off his good taste and skills at garden-building. The garden took 16 years to complete, and quickly became famous in China thanks to local poets and artists painting and writing about it. It features pavilions, towers and bridges, all carefully laid out among pools, lakes, rivers and islands. Relax and take in the scenery with atmospheric and inspiring names like Celestial Spring Tower or Distant Fragrance Hall, Flying Rainbow Bridge and Lotus Breeze Pavilion.

Visit Suzhou Museum
Suzhou Museum was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Chinese-American architect Mr. Ieoh Ming Pei, a Suzhou native. Suzhou Museum is said to be the last design of Mr. Ieoh Ming Pei in his career. Therefore, not only does it become a monumental design building, but also one of the most iconic buildings in Suzhou, merging the traditional Chinese architectural design with the future. The design of the new museum house combines traditional Suzhou architectural style and places the museum between the courtyards to harmonize the building with its surrounding environment. Covering a span of over 10,700 square meters, the museum complex is situated right in the city's historic district alongside the Humble Administrator's Garden. The museum has a display area of 2,200 square meters. It has more than 15,000 pieces in its collections. Most are ancient paintings and calligraphy, ceramics, crafts, unearthed relics and revolution relics. It also possesses more than 70,000 books and documents, and over 20,000 rubbings of stone inscriptions. The collection of paintings and calligraphy includes works of masters from Song Dynasty to Ming and Qing dynasties.

Lunch at Your Own Expense
Please feel free to ask your guide for suggestions and recommendations

Visit Panmen Gate
Panmen Gate is the original entrance to Suzhou and is said to boast a history spanning 2,400 years. It was the only gate in the ancient time to be equipped with both a water entrance and a higher land entrance. The present gate structure was rebuilt in 1986, but the original structure could be traced back to the Yuan dynasty during the peak of the Mongol empire. The Panmen Gate is part of a larger scenic area that houses two other main attractions. Wumen Bridge was the highest bridge in Suzhou, and was the central passageway leading to the land entrance. Ruiguang Pagoda was the ancient city’s first such structure, and its present form has been reconstructed from bricks supported by wooden platforms.

Visit Tiger Hill
Included in the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Tiger Hill is known for its natural environment and historic sites. The hill is so named because it is said to look like a crouching tiger. Another legend states that a white tiger appeared on the hill to guard it following the burial of King Wu Helu. The hill is sometimes referred to in parallel with "Lion Mountain", another hill near Suzhou which clearly resembles a sitting lion. It has an elevation of over 30 m. and covers about 49.41ac. Tiger Hill boasts impressive rocks, deep dales, three matchless scenes, nine suitable occasions for enjoyment, 18 scenic spots, and changing scenery at all times.

Stroll along Shantang Street
Shantang Street is a famous old pedestrian street in Suzhou. The local Chinese call this street, “Seven-Li Shantang”, whereby seven-li is the measure of distance in old China. Seven-Li is approximately 3.5km. The street connects Changmen in the east with Tiger Hill in the west, with a total length of about 3,829.6 meters (2.38 miles). It was added to the list of China's "National Historic and Cultural Streets" in 2015. Construction of the Shantang Canal started in 825 AD, during the Tang Dynasty by Bai Juyi, a poet and the governor of Suzhou, to provide a link between Tiger Hill and the city. The sludge dug out from the construction formed a dam along the north bank of the canal known as Baigong Dam in honor of Bai Juyi. A street was built on dam, which later became the modern-day Shantang Street. The current street can be sectioned into two parts by the Bantang Bridge. The east part is where you can find the shops and traditional houses, on the west is where you can find natural landscape up to Tiger Hill.

Transfer Back to Your Hotel
Your guide and driver will transfer you back to your hotel in Suzhou.