Unveiling Suzhou, Jiangsu: The Hidden Gem Just 1 Hour from Shanghai

2 Days in Suzhou, Jiangsu: HEAVEN ON EARTH
Catch a glimpse of China's heavenly beauty, just 1 hour away from the metropolis of Shanghai. We explore this hidden gem, referred to by Marco Polo as "Heaven on Earth" during his travels to Suzhou and the nearby city of Hangzhou, Zhejiang. This city truly lives up to its nickname as "Heaven on Earth." Watch stunning drone footage and see locals in traditional Chinese clothing as we explore this breathtaking destination and dip into the tantalizing tastes the historic city has to offer. Don't miss out on this must-visit spot for your next trip to China!
We wander the enchanting traditional streets and picturesque canals that reminded the Italian explorer of his home city of Venice. Hence, Suzhou is often referred to as The Venice of the East.
As part of our first real roadtrip in our new car, we drive through Qingpu district and make a stop at the scenic 大观园 garden park in Shanghai to fly our drone for the first time. The architectural wonder of the leaning pavilion and the pagodas, nestled between the numerous lakes of Qingpu and Suzhou were breathtaking. With its scenic lakes, stunning temples, and traditional Chinese clothes, this city truly is a breathtaking heaven on earth. Watch our drone footage and explore Suzhou with us!
With Chinese New Year and the year of the dragon approaching, now is THE PERFECT TIME to plan a trip to China. Don’t know where to go? Look no further!
Miu and I headed to Suzhou in the neighbouring Jiangsu Province for a relaxing weekend away. Just an hour from Shanghai, Suzhou is a popular day trip for Shanghai residents and tourists alike, it’s definitely on my list of must-see cities. Even Marco Polo thought the same!
⏰ Time Stamps
00:00 coming up
00:24 Da Guan Yuan (大观园）
01:20 Hotel Tour
02:35 Shan Tang Jie Traditional Streets + Lunch
04:38 Traditional Chinese Street Foods
06:05 Tiger Hill Scenic Area
07:01 Suzhou at Dusk
08:54 Evening Stroll + Bars
10:43 Brunch by the Lake
12:24 JinJi Lake
Locations in this vlog
📍The Grand View Garden Area of Shanghai, Qingpu District
📍Mecure Hotel, Suzhou
📍Shan Tang Jie (old streets and canals)
📍Tiger Hill Scenic Spot
📍Pingjiang Road
📍La Nuit (Cocktail Bar)
📍Jin Ji Lake
📍Cafe Mersey
Thank you for watching! ❤️
🇨🇳
人间天堂-苏州两日游
让我们从上海驱车一小时，共同一睹中国天堂般的美景吧。马可波罗曾在苏州旅行时将其称为“人间天堂”，属实名不虚传。当看到无人机抓拍的种种美景以及很多人换上传统汉服时，真是美轮美奂，流连忘返。如果你来中国旅行，一定不能错过！漫步在运河沿岸的街道上，享受着江南水乡独有的魅力，隐隐中带着热闹、富庶与安逸。马可波罗称之为东方威尼斯，我却觉得有过之而无不及。
作为我们第一次自驾行的一部分，我们在上海青浦区的大观园稍作停留，尝试驾驶无人机。这些湖泊之上矗立的寺庙与星星点点着汉服服装的江南女子绘织成一幅绝美的画卷，只叫人叹为观止。
龙年临近，正是旅行的最佳时节。还在犹豫的小伙伴，赶快冲冲冲！苏州距离上海仅一小时车程，是上海人最喜爱的一日游地点，也是游览江浙沪不可或缺的一环！
最后！别忘了一键三连喔！！！
🎵 Music Used In This Video provided by Epidemic Sound. For my favourite background music, check out my playlists and sign up to get the first month for free!
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As always, comment, like, and subscribe to show your support!
_______________________
❤️ ABOUT ME ❤️
Hi, I'm Natt! I'm a travel and food enthusiast currently living in Shanghai, China with my fiance, Miu. Subscribe and follow along for more mishaps and adventures in The Middle Kingdom!
❤️ WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME ❤️
Instagram: / expatnatt
Business Instagram: / nattpaints
Support me on Etsy: creatoriq.cc/49tngOW
I paint watercolor storefronts from around the world that are available on my etsy shop. Thank you for supporting my small business! Links may be affiliate links to Etsy and help me to earn a few pennies!
📸 Camera Gear
Drone:
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Tripod:
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Camera:
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Disclaimer: Links in the description may be affiliate links, which means I can earn a small commission at no extra cost to you! ❤️
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[@mitchelllee3503]

"Just as there is paradise in heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth." I don't know if there's a better version of English translation for the old Chinese saying ‘’上有天堂，下有蘇杭‘’

[@danbear1764]

There is heaven above and Suzhou & Hangzhou below. 直译即可，有逻辑的外国人应该懂得什么意思。

[@antiimperialism2739]

Clean, serene environment and rich culture. Thanks for sharing!

[@ExpatNatt]

Thanks for watching! ❤❤

[@Diderot68]

Great that you have shown us some beautiful sights of Suzhou. It may be good to explain why Suzhou and Hangzhou were known as the heaven on earth since the Song Dynasty. It was probably to do with the abundance of food, distance away from barbarian disturbances, freedom from natural disasters, mild weather, production of silk, deep culture and an abundance of educated people, big mansions of the super rich with amazing landscaping, and of course the 小桥流水美佳人，small bridges over running waters and the beautiful women. You see, the Chinese are a contented lot that doesn’t need to conquer the world. Else, we might have missed the gist of it all.

[@edwin-qb3lm]

A place frozen in time! 👍💟😋

[@ExpatNatt]

Definitely! I was unlike anywhere I’ve been to before!❤️

[@Hoo88846]

Jiangsu province 江蘇省 used to be the Wu Kingdom 吳國 and Zhejiang province 浙江省 used to be the Yue Kingdom 越國。The Wu-Yue Contention 吳越之爭 is a famous part of history where one of the Four Great Chinese Beauties Xi Shi 西施 was sent to the Wu Kingdom by the Yue Kingdom 勾踐 King Goujian (臥薪嘗膽） to bring the demise of the Wu Kingdom. My sister-in-law is from Jiangsu province. My husband’s home province is Zhejiang province. We visited many places in these ancient cities a few years ago, especially seeing a lake where Xi Shi 西施and Fan Li 範蠡 used to fish. Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang province. Nanjing is the capital of Ming Dynasty and Republic of China and the capital city of Jiangsu province, but Suzhou is a famous city of Jiangsu province. Jiangnan or South of Yangtze River is called Yue 越。So Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces are called Wu Yue 吳越。Fujian province is called Min Yue 閩越 where the Southern Min dialect 閩南話spoken in Taiwan province originated. Guangdong and Guangxi provinces are called Nanyue南越，where the Qin Dynasty general Zhao Tuo 秦朝的將軍趙佗 established the Nanyue Kingdom, which also included the Trieu Dynasty of Vietnam 越南的趙朝. Rice noodle was invented during that time when the Qin soldiers missed noodles from the north, and used rice plentiful in the wet south to make rice noodles. So rice noodles fen in Mandarin, fun in Cantonese and pho in Vietnamese, is not “Vietnamese” but Chinese. Guangzhou where I was born, the capital city of Guangdong province used to be the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom. Vietnam 越南 Yue Nan in Mandarin, reverses the two characters of Nan Yue Kingdom 南越古國to get their country name. The Nan Yue King Mausoleum is still in Guangzhou, a famous archaeological site. The Cantonese appellation 粵 Yue is a homophone of 越 Yue. While my husband’s relatives in Zhejiang province enjoy Yue Opera 越劇，my Cantonese ancestors in Guangdong enjoy Yue Opera Cantonese Opera. So Jiangnan 江南=Yue 越。 There is a Huntington Library in Los Angeles County San Marino City 5 minutes drive from my house here. There is a Chinese Garden there built with material made in Suzhou replicating the Suzhou style Garden House 蘇州園林.

[@asl6304]

That place looks awesome, even with all the visibility--limiting and gloomy fog! I love chocolate strawberries so much; I'm so curious to someday try tanghulu strawberries!

[@ExpatNatt]

They are my favourite! The hawthorn is good because it’s sweet and sour but I find the stone in the middle a nuisance 😅 strawberries are so good. Sometimes you can have them with grapes, and one time I had it tomatoes. The tomato one was not good hahaha

[@Hoo88846]

⁠There are also some ancient towns near such as Wuzhen 烏鎮 and Zhouzhuang 周莊。I went there in 2006 on a trip back to China after my pharmacy school graduation. Jiangnan 江南 is famous for their garden houses. I don’t know if you have been to Hengdian Chinawood Movie Studio 橫店影視城 in Zhejiang province. We also went there during that same trip to Suzhou (which I’ve visit many times in different trips), and it took us a whole day just to visit one studio called Qing Ming Shang He Tu 清明上河圖 Along the River During the Qingming Festival. That’s where they filmed the movie 「Judge of the Song Dynasty」 大宋提刑官，on the life of Song Ci 宋慈，who wrote the world’s first forensics book called Washing Away of Wrong 洗冤錄。

[@weizhang2834]

Suzhou was a big city in ancient China when Shanghai was a fishing village. Even today most of Shanghai “local” original from Suzhou and ningbo, after 1980s , north and northeast people moved to Shanghai

[@tengsteel8560]

很棒的视频 ! "上有天堂,下有苏杭" 不过冬天的苏州不是太适合旅游, 特别是冬天的雨天, 我可能会选择去园林品茶听雨, 比如你们旅馆附近的留园. 欢迎春秋季有空再来. PS: 你们的经历再一次证明了 "苏州没有夜生活"! 哈哈

[@ExpatNatt]

谢谢你的观看与支持，我们就在上海，所以等天气暖和点一定再来！

[@tengsteel8560]

@@ExpatNatt欢迎, 来之前可以联系我, 如果有空我可以带你们转转苏州古城和园林 酒吧啥的我就不行了, 那是我的知识盲区🤣

[@AF-wr9hx]

I am so hungry after watching you, food looks amazing ❤️👍

[@ExpatNatt]

Haha oh no! I'm hungry now too by just remembering the food 🤣🥰

[@nivzfrabx3718]

Suzhou it's amazing! thank you for sharing!

[@ExpatNatt]

Thanks for watching! ❤️❤️

[@jose_onodera]

Suzhou #1 🎁💐🏆

[@shyviking]

Thanks for the walkaround. I am married to a chinese woman, and we try to go to China as often as we can (which usually only becomes every 2-4th year). We will definately think about going to Suzhou the next time.

[@ExpatNatt]

I can’t believe I hadn’t been before when I’ve been living in Shanghai for the past 3 years and it’s right next door! Definitely worth a visit! ❤️

[@mycoinful]

thank you for making another loverly video! I have been suzhou many many times, but your video still bring a lot of fun!!

[@ExpatNatt]

Thank you for watching! I’m glad you enjoyed it! ❤️

[@charleneji6759]

The lamb dishes look very yummy.

[@ExpatNatt]

Yes they were 😍 The restaurant was very busy we were lucky to get a seat!

[@shijiemiao723]

Great drone footage! 加油加油！😘👏👏

[@ExpatNatt]

❤️❤️❤️

[@JohnnysCafe_]

I love those houses along the canal fronts, if only i could afford to live in one for an extended holiday, Suzhou is a beautiful place. This is such a lovely well edited enjoyable video. The foods! Oh my goodness they look so delicious 😋 i would get fat for sure 😆

[@ExpatNatt]

Thanks for watching! I always feel like I can’t lose weight because I have to try all the yummy foods when we are traveling 😂😂

[@JohnnysCafe_]

@@ExpatNatt 😄👍

[@mayo9030]

The essence of Suzhou is the gardens! Huge miss if you didn’t visit some😢

[@ExpatNatt]

The weather wasn’t ideal, we will drive back in spring/early summer to enjoy the gardens properly

[@thomasantn]

There was a general belief that after Mongols finally captured southern China with 80 years siege, they enjoyed so much of the good whether, nice scenario, wonderful cuisine and beautiful architecture built by southern song, they lost their fighting urge and conquering desire and not for too long they got overthrown by Han Chinese just after 79 years😀

[@ExpatNatt]

Wow I’ve never heard of this before!

[@woojongson5431]

Beautiful video.

[@ExpatNatt]

Thank you ❤️

[@ALIEN_857]

Suzhou, Venice of China

[@ymhktravel]

I think Suzhou existed much earlier than Venice. So it should just be called Suzhou. Suzhou dated back as far as 2500 years ago where as Venice came about only in 420AD.

[@Userlol.]

@@ymhktravel so what that isn’t the point

[@TravelinChina]

Love Suzhou!

[@ExpatNatt]

Such an underrated city for travelers coming to Shanghai, definitely must visit! ❤️

[@PeterSzeto-es6em]

Love that you persevered in the rain; it might have dampened your day but was great viewing for armchair travellers like me. By the way, your new toy made some great aerial shots.

[@ExpatNatt]

Thanks for watching! I’m English so I must be unperturbed by the rain and bad weather hahah. I hope to take the drone with me on more trips soon! ❤️

[@lizz7805]

suzhou is my favorite city in china, i highly recommend visiting suzhou museum as well, it's designed by the late great IM Pei.

[@ExpatNatt]

In summer we will definitely go back, I’d love to visit the silk museum and learn more about the silk that Suzhou is famous for!

[@andrewzhang985]

Very beautifully shot video.👍👍👍

[@ExpatNatt]

Thank you! ❤️

[@user-de4nw6ev3p]

Thanks for your video. It let me remind these days in Suzhou😊

[@ExpatNatt]

Thanks for watching! ❤️❤️

[@user-ox7mz4cp7e]

Nice video and looking forward to your next visit ;3

[@ExpatNatt]

Thanks for watching! ❤️

[@yongxinzhao8993]

great view！

[@ExpatNatt]

❤️❤️

[@williamniggle7382]

暮春三月，江南草长。杂花生树，群莺乱飞。” 烟雨朦胧，杨柳婆沙。寒山钟声，夜半到船。千里游子，能不忆江南？

[@user-po3bo6ye7b]

Awesome videos 👍😎❤

[@ExpatNatt]

Thank you for watching! ❤️

[@user-ty7se7ns9y]

great!guys

[@ExpatNatt]

Thanks for watching! ❤️

[@alex100yi]

拍得很好，玩得开心！

[@ExpatNatt]

谢谢❤️

[@ascaniocasado3181]

Saludos desde la República Dominicana. Maravilloso video!

[@ExpatNatt]

❤️❤️

[@KePuZhiShi]

White walls with black roof is the signature look

[@milliewang5961]

I love your filming style! And suzhou looks beautiful, I'm planning to go togo back to china 2025 and suzhou is 100% on my list

[@ExpatNatt]

Thanks for watching! It’s a great place to visit as a weekend away or day trip from Shanghai or other neighbouring cities 🥰

[@user-pi9xv5qn8k]

Welcome to visit Xuzhou, Jiangsu. Xuzhou has a lot of delicious food.

[@ExpatNatt]

I’d love to visit! I’ll definitely have to check it out!

[@pauladonaldson9867]

It looks very tranquil. What was the temperature?

[@ExpatNatt]

It was very peaceful. The temperature fluctuated between -3 and 8 celcius, although the wind and rain made the second day feel a fair bit colder!

[@OguejiDavid-ey4cw]

Cute natt.❤❤❤

[@ExpatNatt]

❤️❤️

[@jonschool4257]

You film it beautiful place

[@ExpatNatt]

Thank you ❤️

[@All.starts.from.abandon]

glad you love my hometown.if anyone wants to visit it,remember this city is rainy,you can barely see the sunshine😂

[@ExpatNatt]

Yes hahah. Just like my hometown in England, always rainy! But we live close enough that we can easily drive to Suzhou on a sunny day and enjoy the gardens ❤️

[@lovelife5783]

好羡慕你们，真想去苏州玩

[@ExpatNatt]

苏州是很漂亮🤩

[@steventan2550]

January is the driest month, yet it is rainy. Can't image the other months. And visiblity was quite low too.

[@tracymcgrady6953]

I often went to these places when I was in Suzhou University. It's a wonderful memory!

[@ExpatNatt]

Thank you for watching! ❤️

[@user-zt5cx1hk2w]

My hometown😂

[@pauladonaldson9867]

I bet Miu got told off for scaring away the crane! Hilarious

[@ExpatNatt]

Haha yes he did, bladdy git!

[@kevinharding9361]

The bird was a Little Egret BTW 😉

[@kungyin]

蘇州很漂亮，但天氣不好你啥都看不到😂

[@ExpatNatt]

😅😅

[@blueberryandlemon8803]

Nice vlog ,may I know what cam are u using?tia

[@ExpatNatt]

I just film on my beat up old iPhone 12 😅 Every time I think about buying a camera I realize I can have a little holiday for the same price and every time I choose the holiday haha

[@blueberryandlemon8803]

@@ExpatNatt tnk u so much for the reply.

[@kevinharding9361]

Interested to know if you had to register your flight as you now have to do in city areas in Shanghai and Zhejiang (fellow droner in Shanghai). Cheers

[@ExpatNatt]

All drones must be registered no matter the size and it is usually recommended to register your planned flights with the local government for it to be approved. The DJI fly app is great at telling you where you might need permission. I haven’t tried flying within the city, only more remote places away from people and homes etc. You can probably get away with not getting a flight plan approved but if someone tells you to stop flying you could be fined and have your drone confiscated (more details on the DJI app). I wouldn’t fly my drone in Shanghai city centre for this reason but where we live in the countryside it’s much more open and acceptable.

[@kevinharding9361]

@@ExpatNatt OK thanks! Yes I know the regulations regarding Shanghai and Zhejiang (where my wife hails from) and have no problem registering to fly in downtown Shanghai (and last week in Nanhui / Zhou Shan islands without registering, as no-one is bothered since they are not built up areas). I was just interested to know if Suzhou has their own app / regulations and if you found this easy to navigate/register.

[@MotherEarth573]

Where Marco Polo brought back to Italy and wanted a same water city built like this, plus the Doge’s hat 🎩

[@JPan0530]

👋

[@ExpatNatt]

👋 👋❤️

[@yang-xk2wk]

中国欢迎你！

[@ExpatNatt]

❤️❤️

[@-_-Blang-_bling--blong_--Yet..]

Biap sila

[@kanpakloykan7105]

It had been sai dhere R many pretty girls in Su Chou. There is a bone a Chinese proverb Past Su Choi one will not find a preetygirl.