Pingjianglu in Suzhou is part of the “Venice of The East” moniker that the city of Suzhou has been dubbed with over the years. Suzhou is situated in the Jiangsu Province of China and is well worth the trip despite the fact that it is off the beaten track. Below is its magesticness at night.
Pingjianglu is the most popular street in Suzhou that runs parallel to Renmin Lu and makes up the Venice of The East; it is an old style Chinese street which runs adjacent to the main canal. Local houses and poky streets accompany the area in and around the canal and there are gondola like boats on the water, cobblestone paths and of course, the canal itself.
Like all things in China, getting there isn’t easy. From Shanghai, you can get a train into the province of Jiangsu and then you should get off at Suzhou main train station. Buy a train ticket in Shanghai direct to Suzhou. Once you arrive at Suzhou train station you’ll need to get into the city centre which is either an easy taxi ride or a local bus.
There are locals trying to sell you maps in the train station.
As it turns out, Pingjianglu is not the highlight by any means. The World Heritage Site gardens are the real highlight here. There is also a bustling city to see here, twin pagodas, countless temples and more museums than most Chinese towns and cities. While we did it on a day trip, you’re better off staying at least a night in Suzhou.
Top photo credit: minube.com.
Jonny Blair is a self confessed traveling nomad who founded and blogs at Don’t Stop Living. He sees every day as an adventure. Since leaving behind his home town of Bangor in Northern Ireland ten years ago he has traveled to all seven continents, working his way through various jobs and funding it all with hard work and an appetite for travel. Don’t Stop Living, a lifestyle of travel’ contains over 1,000 stories and tips from his journeys round the globe. He wants to show others how easy it is to travel the world, give them some ideas and encourage them to do the same but most of all he aims to constantly live a lifestyle of travel. He is currently based in Hong Kong and on Twitter @jonnyblair.
