Incredible CHINESE FOOD in Ancient WATER TOWN + Gondola Ride & Gardens | Tongli, China

I love visiting China. It’s such a huge country, which means there’s a lot of diversity when it comes to the food. During my trip to the country in April of 2019, I let my taste buds guide me through tShanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou for 12 incredible days. I also learned a lot about the history and culture of these cities and much more! Come along with me on my Chinese adventure!
On the morning of my fifth day in China, I took a day trip to the water town of Tongli, which is about an hour south of Suzhou. There, I met up with my guide, Peter. I went there for the history; 70% of the buildings are over 200 years old! The town is made up of 17 canals with 45 stone bridges. There’s also a meditation garden!
When you arrive at the new town, you pay an entry fee of 100 Yuan/about $14.59 U.S. to get into the town. My first order of business was getting some breakfast. I was starving!
There were lots of street foods everywhere: pig feet, pig legs, duck heads, eggs, and more! We passed through a historical gate and passed lots of souvenir shops. Along the way, I saw shops and stalls selling buns, cakes, and bread. It all looked so good!
I got six different things at one restaurant: preserved vegetables, xiaolongbao with minced pork, soup dumplings, a variety of other dumplings, and a veggie bun.
First up were the preserved water vegetables, which were like a mix between spinach and cabbage. They were really moist and refreshing.
Next was the xiaolongbao, which I nibbled and sucked the soup out of before I popped the whole thing into my mouth. So good! There was some moist pork inside. I added a hot chili sauce. The dough was thin and light, but the pork inside is so flavorful!
Next was the veg bun, which was very dense with lots of layers and preserved water vegetable. The sticky rice snack also contained preserved veg. It was oily and had sticky rice in the middle like a mochi, but the outside was crispy like a pot sticker.
Next was the sticky rice with herbs, which I’d never had before. It was really sticky and was basically a dessert. The last thing was a sticky rice ball that looked like a mochi. Inside was a lot of red bean paste. It was really good!
My breakfast cost me 21 Yuan/$3.06 U.S. I was super full, so it was time to go out and explore Tongli!
We headed down the main avenue, past shops and food vendors. I tried some pork jerky, which tasted like Chinese ribs. I loved the sauce it had been marinating in! The beef jerky was outstanding!
We reached a square with lots of traditional-looking buildings and then the meditation garden. Your pass to get into the garden is the ticket you got when you entered the town, so don’t lose it! Inside is a tea hall with beautiful and intricate furniture. It’s made of mahogany and marble. It’s 200 years old and is in perfect condition!
We visited the main hall and living quarters of this incredible UNESCO World Heritage Site. I marveled at its amazing brick-and-wood doors, the patterns on the floor, and a bonsai tree! There are also lots of unique windows and a garden through the moon gate.
The garden was so beautiful and contained a pond with fish. I loved the imperial architecture from 200 years ago! It almost looked like everything was floating on the pond. There was a large, smooth stone that’s good luck to touch.
From the garden, we passed through the crowds of people and watched an awesome Chinese opera performance. Then we crossed a bridge and paid 90 Yuan to hire a boat to ride down the canal. We passed under 3 ancient stone bridges. This is the best way to experience Tongli and see local life! The ride takes 25 minutes and gives you great insight into the history of this beautiful town!
Along the canals are restaurants and there were lots of amazing trees overhead. This is what I wanted to see when in China! After our ride, we re-entered the sea of tourists to explore more and entered the old town, where there where lots of low-slung, traditional houses. We saw the third bridge, which was more straight and less arched.
And just like that, my 3-hour tour of Tongli was over! If you liked coming with me to explore Tongli, please give this video a thumbs up and leave me a comment. Also, please subscribe to my channel!
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Incredible CHINESE FOOD in Ancient WATER TOWN + Gondola Ride & Gardens | Tongli, China
• Incredible CHINESE FOO...

[@Davidsbeenhere]

Thank you for watching my incredible Chinese Food video! If you're new to my channel please SUBSCRIBE bit.ly/DBH-SUB for new travel content every week! Also follow me on Instagram to get live updates: instagram.com/davidsbeenhere

[@AussieAngeS]

Wow those dumplings and buns looked amazing 😍 I am loving this Chinese food and travel series David, China is beautiful

[@ashwinibhosale8722]

China is favorite place and this vlog will helpful to travel 😊

[@momee_leo]

Thank you for showing us one of the prettiest town 🙏😍😍 Definitely on my bucket list now👍

[@gondvilli]

Hi david...following your china vlogs for some time now....really enjoying them.... Dont let negativity of people ever deter your determination.. We love you...

[@kenyup5424]

I love the soundtrack in the beginning of the video, I gave a thumbs up to this video,the garden looke so beautiful

[@BBwoan]

These China videos are awesome! Love your food choices and unique style.

[@govindkrishan192]

So incredible food

[@ricardotongol567]

Hello David...hm pork jerky. Yummm. Another awesome blog thank you David. Great tour of the beautiful town and a nice boat ride. Great. Guide.

[@machinegunadiii2836]

Ur videos is so amazing

[@prandeepdey]

Your video made me hungry already 😋

[@anandaragi4298]

You can't wach David's video with empty stomach

[@arijitgaming7037]

I love your videos

[@apemsasah6471]

Waoh!

[@sabhapathysubramanian8809]

awesome canal boat ride...... and also the sound track for this video is incredible..... :)

[@madisonhuang2960]

your videos are really cool.

[@tomashoffmann8963]

damn that food is FIRE!!

[@Danchris345]

Cool video as ever always look forward to your next video and your adventures! Waiting for your next barbers video maybe super short haircut this time?

[@cyninggamer3076]

Nice video.

[@CHOMPINGCHAMPION]

Brilliant place David

[@joshq2669]

David opinion on every food: delicious

[@simantagogoi3725]

I Love your Videos ..

[@chonkyseal11]

Preserved vegetables look good.

[@chjin1796]

23个阿三点了踩，评论里有些阿三真的很碍眼

[@weiqunmi]

Impressive chopstick skill !

[@sujatadas07]

Awsme... Wish I was born there :-)

[@anandaragi4298]

What's wrong being born in india

[@responseaspire4galaxy-2you47]

David, I'm jealous, you make me hungry again,

[@user-hv8fw1hb1n]

Meat slices are delicious.

[@03mar333]

Brilliant video as always David. Can't believe you don't have more views for your Videos. People are missing out....

[@MikoWorldwide]

I agree. I don't know how KZbin does the algorithm. He's as good as Mark Weins but Mark has millions of followers. Unfair.

[@beeohel6787]

@@MikoWorldwide I think Mark buys the subscribers

[@feishenzhang]

Because youtube is banned in mainland China which makes few local followers.

[@feishenzhang]

Pickles usually with congee, otherwise too salty I think.

[@berdzenadze]

You should try Georgian food. Visit Georgia and try plenty of very taste Georgian food. Khinkali similar like as Dumpling but more taste, more small

[@karanamaditya5118]

wait! who is the person/Guide with you?? You forgot to introduce him :P :P :)

[@terrywilkins7914]

Green veggies looks like What we call Kankong in the Philippines

[@zhangspring3314]

Man, for breakfast, the vegetable you have taken is salted one, like a kind of condiment when you take dumplings/Baozi, not in one go.

[@chetnadethe8172]

Sticky rice?? Yeah!

[@arijitgaming7037]

From India

[@isoldel9313]

David, next time in China, ask kids if you want to find people who can speak English, the younger they are the more likely they can speak English. oh one more thing, there are hotels rebuild in those magnificent Chinese gardens and villages, you can look them up. definitely worth staying. there is one called Dayu Kaiyuan is a rebuild of one of those villages into a massive hotel resort. Kaiyuan is a great Chinese hotel chain. Check them out.

[@katkrist6409]

Hey David, one thing i like you the most is you are very open to all kinds of food!

[@badrikhanalvlog2417]

Hi David, I like your Vlogs, I watch all your videos, my one request, you can take it as a suggestion as well, please visit Nepal, lot of unexplored food market, and too many viewers. I guarantee you, it’s safe. Best time to go there is October and November. All the best.

[@bakchodiwalafrnd2263]

from north east

[@a.jsarmah6771]

2 nd hi sir I m your big fan reply me plzz

[@minniec.9127]

When pouring chili sauce from a shared bottle, pour onto plate and then dip food into it. Do not pour sauce directly onto yr food when you've already bitten into it, touching the food thus contaminating the bottle. Also, you used yr chopstick and touched the mouth of the chili sauce bottle at 4:59. You worry about germs using hand sanitizer, but you don't pay attention to contamination to others.

[@user-ch4uq4er6v]

Welcome to china I am Chinese

[@Obelixlxxvi]

Well those hand sanitizers also kill the good bacteria which are the first line of defence against disease / germs.

[@luyunqing]

恩……我第一次看把咸菜吃着完的，中国人咸菜都是用来配稀饭或者馒头，或者放在面条里配着吃，因为太咸了

[@wang8935]

🥢筷子用着挺溜

[@pestomato]

dude do you workout? i mean all the rich food makes you wanna workout

[@moalongpatnaik7439]

But I love your show. You don't chew much like Americans though

[@cherriberri7161]

Doesn’t the poor tour guide get to eat? I would think you would buy him a meal as well

[@janapriyanga8240]

Exactly!!! Tat old guy😢

[@homoduran]

guides usually buy for themselves, it the rule. If you want to to treat them I guess it's ok as well

[@cherriberri7161]

bulubulu I would be so grateful to find a honest & informative guide I would be happy to pay for his meal & service!

[@gepingchai9715]

那咸菜这么吃太咸了,一般吃了其他点心再吃一点点咸菜

[@chinayamialin6493]

好吃吗

[@hanafitan7731]

Tongli ? I cannot find it in map

[@rupeshreang]

Wow...pork...same as northeast India. But I guess different recipes. But momos or dumplings are common

[@befunnytv3508]

makes me hungry

[@00001111henry]

China 🇨🇳 government provide assistance and money 💰 to develop old towns turned into tourism. Many old town doing the same way all part of China. Trying getting Chinese citizen out of poverty! That’s a good idea 💡 provide them for jobs.

[@lliving4today]

No more close ups of you munching! Much better at a distance

[@OldSchoolLad]

he always use his chopsticks to touch those sauce which are meant to be share use by all customers. very selfish behavior.

[@ZoeCuiM]

David teaches local Shanghainese tour guy what Shanghai looks like when his parents were here. Whoa. This video is just so cringy

[@shalinimaldikar635]

Hii David plz come back to India. Sooo many delicious food waiting. I don't like ur China tours.

[@chjin1796]

Just click the close button, Is this difficult for you?

[@shalinimaldikar635]

@@chjin1796 no need ur suggestion I knew it

[@masterwai111]

You should really pour the sauce on your plate and dip your food in it. Not from the bottle straight onto your food or utensil. Disgusting and unhygienic!