Four days covers Shanghai and Suzhou only
All three nights are in Shanghai. Seven days is the trip that divides Wuxi, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou, a morning or an afternoon in each, with six nights along the way. Hangzhou has its own destination page. Nanjing and Wuxi do not, so what those two cities get on the seven-day is set out below.
One day, Suzhou only
You are already in Shanghai and have one day free. A private car leaves from your downtown hotel. The drive is about 1.5 to 2 hours each way, and you sleep in Shanghai that night. The morning is Tongli. The afternoon is Couple’s Garden, Pingjiang Road, and the Suzhou Silk Museum. From USD 318 per person. No Suzhou hotel. The Retreat and Reflection Garden and a scull boat are included only when they are written on that day’s sheet. If you want the boat, say so when you book.
Four days
Shanghai for the whole stay, Suzhou for one full day. The hotel is Shanghai Central Hotel or one of the same level. From USD 998 per person. The price includes 3 breakfasts, 2 lunches, an English-speaking guide, a private car, the tickets named on the itinerary, and the transfers on arrival day and departure day. Wuxi, Nanjing, and Hangzhou are not on this route.
Day 1. You land in Shanghai. A private car takes you to the hotel. The afternoon is free.
Day 2. Yu Garden, the City God Temple bazaar, Jade Buddha Temple, and the Bund.
Day 3. Suzhou: the Humble Administrator’s Garden, the Lingering Garden, Panmen Gate, and a canal boat. Lunch is in Suzhou. You are back in Shanghai that night.
Day 4. Transfer to the airport or the station for your flight or train.
The Humble Administrator’s Garden and the Lingering Garden are two of China’s four great gardens. The first is large and open. The second is arranged around the rock called the Cloud-Crowned Peak. Panmen adds the old wall and the water gate. Book the four-day when the gardens are the point of the trip.
Seven days
Five cities, one stop each. Six nights, in Shanghai, Wuxi, Nanjing, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. From USD 1,979 per person. The price includes breakfast every day, the lunches named on the day-by-day quote, an English-speaking guide, a private car, and the tickets listed. The email quote is the price for your dates.
Day 1. You land in Shanghai.
Day 2. Lujiazui in the morning, then Wuxi for Qingming Bridge.
Day 3. Changguangxi wetland and Taihu pearls in the morning, the Confucius Temple in Nanjing in the afternoon.
Day 4. Stone City and the jade exhibition in Nanjing in the morning, Couple’s Garden in Suzhou in the afternoon.
Day 5. Hangzhou: the silk museum, Chenghuang Pavilion, and time on West Lake on your own.
Day 6. Meijiawu tea village, then back to Shanghai.
Day 7. The airport transfer.
On this route, Wuxi is Qingming Bridge, Changguangxi, and the Taihu pearls. It does not get a day to itself. Nanjing is the Confucius Temple, Stone City, and the jade exhibition. The Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum is not included. Suzhou is an afternoon at Couple’s Garden, not the Humble Administrator’s Garden or the Lingering Garden. Hangzhou is the silk museum, Chenghuang Pavilion, West Lake, and Meijiawu. For a closer look at the lake and the tea village, use the Hangzhou page: https://chinatour.eastmarvel.com/destinations/hangzhou-tour.html. If you want the mausoleum on the Nanjing morning, write that in before you book.
The three garden sets do not overlap
The one-day is Tongli, Couple’s Garden, Pingjiang Road, and the Silk Museum. The four-day is the Humble Administrator’s Garden, the Lingering Garden, Panmen, and a canal boat. The seven-day is Couple’s Garden for one afternoon. If the gardens are the reason, choose the four-day, or add the one-day to a Shanghai stay you already have. The seven-day is for seeing all five cities.
Inside the 240-hour transit area
Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang are inside the 240-hour visa-free transit area. To use that waiver for the seven-day, check your entry date, your exit port, and the 10-day limit counted from 00:00 on the day after you arrive. You also need a confirmed ticket onward to a third place.
When you write
Send your arrival date in Shanghai, the number of travelers, and whether you want 1 day, 4 days, or 7. For 1 day or 4 days, say whether Suzhou should be the Tongli day or the Humble Administrator’s Garden and Lingering Garden day. For 7 days, say whether the Nanjing morning should be changed to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum.
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