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An annual cultural extravaganza held in Zhangjiagang, Suzhou. It celebrates the diverse cultures along the Yangtze River basin through five main themes: cultural relics, intangible heritage, arts, travel, and openness. The festival features thematic exhibitions, a vibrant intangible cultural heritage bazaar, and electronic guidebooks for exploring riverside cities[citation:6][citation:8].
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A hotel resort with hot spring facilities - you can buy a ticket to soak in hot tubs outdoors. It's quite fancy, has plenty of different baths, illuminations and spas. It's in the outskirts to the west of the city, a 30-minute taxi ride away. By public transportation, take Metro Line 1 to a western station, then take a bus - consult Google Maps for details.
虎丘塔; Hǔqiūtǎ
This is also called the "Yunyan Pagoda", after the Buddhist temple it was once part of; the temple was burned during the cultural revolution. Some buildings have been reconstructed and a 48-m tall brick pagoda with seven stories and eight sides remains, though now missing its wooden outer skin. It is one of the few remaining examples of pagodas of this type and is sometimes called the "Leaning Tower of China" because it has tilted a bit since it was built in the 900s. Tiger Hill is of enormous importance historically and culturally, but much of its significance will likely be lost on foreign visitors.
山塘
A restored canal street running from Changmen to Tiger Hill. The southeast end of the street may be mobbed with tourists, but as you walk further north the souvenir shops and restaurants disappear, and you can take a leisurely stroll along the canal through a quiet residential neighborhood.
苏州美术馆
Exhibits of painting and calligraphy, especially modern Chinese art and local Suzhou artists.
Zhuo Zheng Yuan 拙政园
Said to have cost a boatload of silver and taken sixteen years to build. Free tours through the garden start every 5-10 minutes, though these tours are conducted only in Mandarin. Included in the tour is a "Chinese marriage", a look at carved tree roots, followed by a boat ride through the garden canals. The incredible collection of bonsai trees ('pen cai' or 'pen jing' in Chinese) at the end of the garden furthest from the main entrance is worth a trip all by itself.
Sūzhōu Gōngyì Měishù Bówùguǎn 苏州工艺美术博物馆
This is a relatively new museum, opened in 2003, but the building it is in dates back to the reign of Emperor Qianlong, 1735-1796. The museum's collection numbers nearly one-thousand pieces and includes modern Suzhou embroidery, sandalwood, tapestry, wood carving, stone carving, Ming-style furniture, ethnic musical instruments, antique bronze, lacquerwork and metal crafts.