Jiangnan in Autumn

Version 3 Last updated 11 July 2026, 11:59 PM (SGT) · confirmed hotels: Zety Hotel (Hangzhou, 1–3 Oct) & Haner Hotel (Suzhou, 3–5 Oct). Seeing an older layout? Refresh the page to load the latest.

◆ Read this first — you are travelling during Golden Week

1–7 October is China's National Day holiday, the single busiest travel week of the year, and your dates land right in the peak. Roughly 800 million+ domestic trips happen this week. In practical terms: the best trains sell out in minutes, the famous gardens hit their daily visitor caps, and West Lake gets genuinely shoulder-to-shoulder. The good news — everything below is bookable, and this plan is built around locking each piece in the moment its booking window opens. Treat the Booking Countdown as your homework.

Route

Loop
SH → HZ → SZ → Tongli → SH

Nights

4
2 Hangzhou · 2 Suzhou

Trains

3 legs
all high-speed (G)

Fly out

SQ833
Mon 5 Oct · 16:50 · T2

How to read this guide

Each attraction shows tags for hours reservation needed free, plus a ☎ phone number you can tap to call. Prices are in Chinese yuan (¥). All phone numbers are in international format — dialling from a foreign SIM, keep the +86; dialling from a local number, drop it.

Do this before you go

The Booking Countdown

The two things that can break this trip are unbooked trains and unbooked garden reservations. Both open on fixed dates before travel. Set phone alarms for every red date below.

✓
Now → early September

Set up your accounts while it's calm. Register on the Rail 12306 app with your passport (identity check can take up to ~3 days). Add a card to Alipay and WeChat Pay and complete passport verification. Register DiDi (easiest inside Alipay's mini-program). Sort an eSIM/roaming + VPN before arrival. See Essentials.
1
Wed 17 Sep — Train Day 1

Book Shanghai Hongqiao → Hangzhou East for 1 Oct. Release is ~13:30 (Hongqiao's slot). Tickets appear 15 days ahead; the fastest departures go first.
2
Fri 19 Sep — Train Day 2

Book Hangzhou East → Suzhou for 3 Oct. Choose destination "Suzhou" (苏州站), not "Suzhou North" (苏州北) — Suzhou North is 15 km out of town.
3
Mon 21 Sep — Train Day 3

Book Suzhou → Shanghai Hongqiao for 5 Oct — your departure day. You'll continue to the airport from Hongqiao (see Transport).
4
Thu 24 – Fri 25 Sep — Lingyin Temple (optional)

If adding Lingyin Temple (Day 2), reserve via the mini-program 杭州灵隐飞来峰. Free entry now, but reservation only, 1–7 days ahead, no walk-ins.
5
Sat 26 Sep, 08:00 — Suzhou reservations

The instant the 7-day window opens, book Humble Administrator's Garden (苏州园林 mini-program) and Suzhou Museum (苏州博物馆全预约) for your 3 Oct visit. These cap daily numbers and vanish fast. Counting can be inclusive — if slots aren't live at 08:00 on the 26th, try again 08:00 on the 27th.
6
Late September — Tongli

Pre-buy Tongli Ancient Town online (cheaper than the gate; it appeared on Suzhou's holiday reservation list in 2025, so treat it as reservation-worthy).
★
The night before you fly

Do online check-in for SQ833 and confirm the departure time hasn't shifted. Screenshot every booking QR/passport order number in case of patchy signal.

Golden rule for sold-out trains

If a train shows sold out on 12306, use the 候补 (waitlist / "standby") feature instead of giving up — cancellations are auto-allocated to waitlisted passengers first, and it works remarkably often. Trip.com is a fully-English alternative (small service fee) worth running in parallel.

Morning · get to Hangzhou

08:30

Start at the Hyatt Place / Hyatt House Shanghai Hongqiao CBD. You're perfectly placed — it's only 2.6 km (~7 min drive) from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station. Breakfast, then a short taxi/DiDi or metro hop to the station.

9 Shenhong Rd, Minhang · +86 21 3329 5588

Board a mid-morning train so you reach Hangzhou by lunch. Be at Shanghai Hongqiao 90 minutes early today — it's one of Asia's largest stations and Golden Week crowds are real.

Use the North entrance if arriving by taxi/DiDi, South if by metro. Boarding gates close firmly 5 minutes before departure.

🚄 Train · Shanghai Hongqiao → Hangzhou East

Journey: 45–75 min (fastest G-trains ~45 min)
Fare: ~¥73 second class (¥34–87 range); 1st class ~¥120
Frequency: 270+ trains/day — but book ahead for 1 Oct
Book: Rail 12306 app or Trip.com · phone 12306 (press 9 for English)
Arrive at: Hangzhou East (杭州东); Metro Line 1 ~20 min to West Lake area

Afternoon · West Lake

13:30

Drop bags at the Zety, then walk to West Lake — you're only ~5 minutes away. Start on the Bai Causeway from Broken Bridge (断桥), curving to Gushan Island, then the willow-lined Su Causeway (苏堤) — the classic first-day loop on foot.

15:00

Boat ride to Three Pools Mirroring the Moon (三潭印月). The little stone pagodas rising from the water are the scene on the ¥1 note. Buy tickets at any pier booth — no app needed.

⛵ West Lake cruise · Three Pools island

Price: ¥55 standard boat / ¥70 deluxe — both include the ¥20 island landing. Buy the ¥55.
Piers: No.1 Park, No.2 & No.5 Park (Hubin), Zhongshan Park, Huagang (Flower Harbour)
Hours: Sep–15 Nov: sales 08:00–16:30; boats every 15–20 min
Also: Private hand-rowed boat ~¥150–180/hr · self-drive electric ¥20–30/half-hr
Info line: +86 571 8797 5328

Open water — no reservation

17:00

Optional add-on: Leifeng Pagoda (雷峰塔) for sunset over the lake — escalators up, golden-hour views across to the city.

🏯 Leifeng Pagoda

Price: ¥40 (¥20 concession)
Hours: 08:00–20:00 (last entry 19:30) in Oct
Tip: Bookable up to 7 days ahead; go late afternoon for sunset

Hours 08:00–20:00

Evening · Hefang Street

19:00

Hefang / Qinghefang Ancient Street (河坊街). A lantern-lit pedestrian lane of snack stalls and craft shops. Graze: dragon-beard candy, Dingsheng cake, stinky tofu, beggar's chicken, sugar-painting. Look for the historic Huqingyu Tang Chinese Medicine Museum and the Drum Tower at the end.

🥢 Dinner near the lake

Icon: Louwailou (楼外楼) — 170-year West Lake institution: West Lake vinegar fish, Dongpo pork. Reserve/expect a wait. +86 571 8796 9682
Snacks: Zhiweiguan (知味观) — famous xiaolongbao & Hangzhou snacks, walk-in. +86 571 8701 7778

🛏 Where you sleep · Hangzhou (2 nights, 1–3 Oct) — your booking

Zety Hotel 臻庭酒店

Hubin Xihu Longxiangqiao Subway Station Branch · No. 31 Changsheng Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou

★ Superb location — by the lake

A 2025-opened boutique right by Longxiangqiao (Line 1) metro and the Hubin lakefront — roughly a 5-minute walk to West Lake and close to Hefang Street. Check-in after 14:00, check-out by 12:00.

☎ No public direct line — tap "Call Property" in your Trip.com booking. (Booking 1658113203871693)

Morning · Longjing tea hills

09:00

Longjing Tea Village (龙井村). Terraced green hills 15–20 min by taxi/DiDi from the lake. Walk the rows, sit at a farmhouse for a cup of just-picked Dragon Well (Longjing) green tea, and buy leaf directly from growers.

A farmhouse tasting typically runs ¥30–100+ depending on grade. Prices are negotiable — taste before you buy.

10:30

China National Tea Museum (中国茶叶博物馆). Free, calm, and genuinely well done — two branches (Longjing & Shuangfeng) set among the plantations.

🍵 Longjing & the Tea Museum

Cost: Village & museum free; you pay only for tea you drink/buy
Getting there: DiDi from West Lake ~¥25–40; or bus 27/游3
Alt.: Meijiawu Tea Village — quieter, more plantation walking

Free No reservation

Midday · Nine Creeks trail

12:00

Nine Creeks & Eighteen Gullies (九溪十八涧). A free, shaded stream-and-forest walk that connects down from the tea hills — the antidote to lakeside crowds. You can walk between Longjing and Jiuxi; wear proper shoes.

🌿 Nine Creeks (Jiuxi)

Cost: Free, open daylight hours
Getting there: Walk down from Longjing, or bus 324/103 to Jiuxi stop

Free

Afternoon & evening · back to the lake

15:00

Cycle the West Lake shore. Grab a shared bike (Hellobike / Meituan) by scanning through Alipay or WeChat — foreigners just need passport verification, no Chinese bank account. Ride the flat lakeside paths; roughly ¥1.5/30 min.

17:30

Lakeside café + dinner, then back to the Zety. Slow down with a coffee facing the water, then eat local before your second night in Hangzhou.

🥢 Hangzhou home cooking

Popular: Grandma's / Waipojia (外婆家), Hubin in77 — great value, notorious queues (take a number). +86 571 8708 6617
Reliable: Green Tea (绿茶), 83 Longjing Rd flagship — near the tea hills. +86 571 8788 8022

Optional: Lingyin Temple (灵隐寺) & Feilai Feng

One of China's great Buddhist temples, beside the tea area — worth half a morning if you swap out Nine Creeks. Entry is now free but reservation-only, 1–7 days ahead via the 杭州灵隐飞来峰 mini-program (no same-day, no walk-in). Book it around 24–25 Sep.

Morning · train north

Take an early train so you're in Suzhou for an early lunch — you have timed garden & museum slots to hit today.

🚄 Train · Hangzhou East → Suzhou

Journey: ~1h20m–1h55m direct (budget ~1.5 hr)
Fare: ~¥150–198 second class
Arrive at: "Suzhou" (苏州站) — NOT Suzhou North. ~10 min taxi to the old town

Afternoon · gardens & museum

13:00

Check in at the Haner on Pingjiang Road, drop your bags, then it's a ~10–15 min walk to the garden.

13:30

Humble Administrator's Garden (拙政园). The largest and most celebrated of Suzhou's classical gardens — island pavilions, zig-zag bridges, borrowed views. Enter at your booked time slot.

🏛 Humble Administrator's Garden

Price: ~¥80 peak season (Apr–Oct)
Hours: 07:30–17:30 (may extend to 18:00 on the holiday; last entry ~17:00)
Reserve: Real-name via 苏州园林 mini-program, opens ~7 days ahead. Book for 3 Oct on ~26 Sep, 08:00.
Phone: +86 512 962015 (backup +86 512 6751 0286)

Reservation required · sells out

15:30

Suzhou Museum (苏州博物馆) — right next door. I. M. Pei's final masterpiece: white walls, grey stone, water and light distilled into a modern take on the Suzhou garden. Free, but reservation-gated.

🏛 Suzhou Museum (I. M. Pei)

Price: Free
Hours: Tue–Sun 09:00–17:00 (last entry 16:00); closed Mon (open on the holiday)
Reserve: 苏州博物馆全预约 mini-program, opens 7 days ahead at 08:00. Book for 3 Oct alongside the garden.
Phone: +86 512 6757 5666

Free but reservation required

Evening · Pingjiang Road

17:30

Pingjiang Road (平江路) — your doorstep. Your hotel sits on this 800-year canal street, so just step out: teahouses with live Pingtan storytelling (the Haner runs its own), little bridges, lantern reflections after dark. Take a short hand-rowed canal boat (~¥40/person, ~40 min, until 17:30).

🥢 Dinner in the old town

Near you: Wumen Renjia (吴门人家), 31 Panru Xiang — classic Suzhou banquet by the garden, reserve for private rooms. +86 512 6728 8041
Classic: Songhelou (松鹤楼) — 260-yr-old squirrel mandarin-fish house. +86 512 6770 0688

🛏 Where you sleep · Suzhou (2 nights, 3–5 Oct) — your booking

Haner Hotel 翰尔酒店

Suzhou Guanqian Street Pingjiang Road · No. 66 Pingjiang Road (near Daru Lane), Gusu District

★ Right on the canal street

A characterful Su-style inn on Pingjiang Road itself — walkable (~10–15 min) to the Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou Museum & Lion Grove; Xiangmen metro (Line 1) ~700 m. Free luggage storage, complimentary Pingtan-show tickets, its own teahouse & Suzhou-cuisine restaurant. Check-in after 14:00, out by 12:00.

+86 512 6777 7189 (Booking 1658113204805037)

⚠ No lift and a cobbled lane — taxis drop nearby, not at the door, so pack light or be ready to wheel bags over stones.

Good news — no hotel move today

You're booked at the Haner for both Suzhou nights, so today is a relaxed round-trip: leave your bags in the room, spend the day in a water town, and come "home" to Pingjiang Road tonight. Aim to set off for Tongli by 08:30 to beat the worst of the Golden Week crowds.

Morning · Tongli Ancient Town

08:30

DiDi to Tongli (同里古镇). ~45 min, ¥80–100. The most reliable option today — metro Line 4 + bus is cheaper (~¥9) but slow and crowded on the holiday.

09:15

Explore the canals (3–4 hrs). Priorities: Tuisi Garden (退思园) — a UNESCO World Heritage garden; the Three Bridges (Taiping · Jili · Changqing), crossed for good luck; Ming–Qing Street; and a slow hand-rowed boat through the waterways.

🌉 Tongli Ancient Town

Ticket: ~¥80 (official; cheaper online) — covers the town's halls & gardens incl. Tuisi
Hours: Town ~07:30–21:00; ticketed sights close ~17:15
Boat: ¥120 per boat (up to 6), ~25–30 min, ~08:00–16:30 (no night boats here)
Phone: +86 400 698 2990

Pre-book online

Afternoon & evening · back to Suzhou

14:00

DiDi back to the Haner, drop anything you bought, and recharge. With a whole second Suzhou night, there's no rush.

16:00

Optional: one more Suzhou gem. Lion Grove Garden (狮子林) — a labyrinth of fantastical rockeries — is a ~10-min walk from your hotel. Or simply rest before the evening.

18:30

Evening on the water. Either wander lantern-lit Pingjiang Road right outside, or taxi to Shantang Street (山塘街) for a livelier scene and a night canal boat (~¥50/person, runs to ~21:00).

🥢 Dinner tonight

Easiest: Hongdengji (洪登记) — the Haner's own Suzhou-cuisine restaurant, on Pingjiang Rd (No. 81)
Classic: Songhelou / Wumen Renjia (see Dining) for a proper Suzhou banquet

Tonight — prep for departure

You leave Suzhou tomorrow. Do online check-in for SQ833, reconfirm your Suzhou → Hongqiao train, and screenshot your boarding pass + train QR in case of patchy signal.

◆ Change from your draft — the Wild Animal Park no longer fits

Your earlier plan put the Shanghai Wild Animal Park on this morning, but that assumed a hotel by Pudong Airport. With both final nights now in Suzhou (~2+ hrs from the park, which sits out past PVG), squeezing it in before a 16:50 international flight isn't realistic in Golden Week. I've swapped in a relaxed Suzhou send-off. Still set on the animals? The clean fix is to book a Pudong-airport hotel for the night of the 4th instead of the second Suzhou night — say the word and I'll rework Days 4–5 around it.

Morning · a gentle Suzhou farewell

08:00

Breakfast & a last Pingjiang stroll. The street is quietest early — coffee, canal photos, maybe a final souvenir before the crowds build.

09:30

Check out (by 12:00). Leave bags with the front desk if you want more time — the Haner offers free luggage storage.

10:15

Head to Suzhou station. Taxi/DiDi ~15–20 min from Pingjiang Road. Build in a buffer for Golden Week security queues.

Midday · cross to Pudong Airport

11:00

Train to Shanghai Hongqiao, then the Airport Link Line straight to PVG. There's no bullet train into the airport itself, so this is the smart routing.

🚄 Suzhou → Pudong Airport (PVG)

Leg 1: Suzhou → Shanghai Hongqiao, 20–45 min, ~¥30–50 (book for 5 Oct — opens ~21 Sep)
Leg 2: Airport Link Line (机场联络线) Hongqiao → PVG, ~40 min, ¥26, every 15 min — far comfier with luggage than Metro Line 2
Target: Total ~1.5–2 hrs; aim to reach PVG by ~13:00–13:30

Afternoon · fly home

13:00

At PVG Terminal 2, bag drop. With online check-in done, clear security/immigration. Claim your tourist VAT refund before immigration if you shopped (≥¥500/store, tags & receipts).

16:50

SQ833 departs Shanghai Pudong (T2) → Singapore, ~5 hr 30 min. 🛫

✈️ SQ833 & the airport

Flight: Singapore Airlines SQ833, PVG → SIN, dep 16:50, Terminal 2, ~5h30m
Check-in: Counters open ~3 hrs prior; bag drop closes ~60 min before — don't cut it fine on a holiday
Eat: Airside T2 has Din Tai Fung (near Gate F) & Xiao Nan Guo (小南国) for a last dumpling fix

Quick reference

Your Stays at a Glance

Dates	Hotel	Area	Phone
Arrival base	Hyatt Place / House Shanghai Hongqiao CBD	Hongqiao CBD · 7 min to Hongqiao Station	+86 21 3329 5588
1–3 Oct · 2 nts	Zety Hotel 臻庭酒店	Hubin / Longxiangqiao · by West Lake	via Trip.com app
3–5 Oct · 2 nts	Haner Hotel 翰尔酒店	No. 66 Pingjiang Road, Gusu	+86 512 6777 7189

All three are booked — these are your confirmed stays

No Pudong-airport hotel is needed anymore, since you go straight from Suzhou to the airport on the 5th. Keep the Hyatt Hongqiao details handy for your arrival into Shanghai, and remember the Haner's cobbled-lane access when packing.

Eat well

Dining Directory

Tap any number to call. Reality of Golden Week: big-name restaurants run on take-a-number queues rather than phone reservations, and waits of 30–90 min are normal — go early, or use the in-app (Dianping) queue where you can.

Hangzhou

Place	Known for	Address	Phone / booking
Louwailou 楼外楼	Historic Hangzhou classics	30 Gushan Rd, West Lake	+86 571 8796 9682 · reserve
Waipojia 外婆家	Home-style, great value	B1, 185 Yan'an Rd (in77)	+86 571 8708 6617 · queue
Green Tea 绿茶	Modern Hangzhou	83 Longjing Rd	+86 571 8788 8022 · queue
Zhiweiguan 知味观	Snacks, xiaolongbao	83 Renhe Rd (Hubin)	+86 571 8701 7778 · walk-in

Suzhou

Place	Known for	Address	Phone / booking
Hongdengji 洪登记	Su cuisine (your hotel's own)	81 Pingjiang Road	walk from the Haner
Songhelou 松鹤楼	Squirrel mandarin fish	72 Taijian Nong	+86 512 6770 0688 · reserve
Wumen Renjia 吴门人家	Suzhou banquet	31 Panru Xiang (by the garden)	+86 512 6728 8041 · reserve

Pudong Airport (T2, airside)

Place	Known for	Where	Hours
Din Tai Fung	Dumplings	T2 airside, near Gate F	~07:00–22:00 · walk-in
Xiao Nan Guo 小南国	Shanghainese	T2 departures, airside	~10:00–21:00 · walk-in

Getting around

Transport Playbook

🎫 Booking bullet trains as a foreigner

Rail 12306 (official app/site) — register with your passport; identity verification can take up to ~3 days, so do it now. Your passport is your ticket — scan it at the gate.
Trip.com — fully English, tiny service fee; great backup and sometimes shows seats 12306 hides.
Phone: 12306 in China (press 9 for limited English) — a fallback, mostly Mandarin.
Tickets release 15 days ahead, per date (see the Countdown). Fast trains sell out in minutes during Golden Week — book on the dot, and use 候补 waitlist if sold out.
At the station: arrive 90 min early on holiday dates, airport-style security, carry your own bags (no trolleys), gates close 5 min before departure.

🚕 DiDi (ride-hailing)

Register before you travel — easiest through the DiDi mini-program inside Alipay (uses your existing passport verification and foreign card; no Chinese number needed). Used for Longjing, Tongli, and station runs. Keep destination names in Chinese handy to show/paste — especially the Haner (翰尔酒店, 平江路66号), since taxis can only drop near the cobbled lane, not at the door.

🚈 Reaching Pudong Airport (PVG) on Day 5

There is no high-speed train into PVG. From Suzhou, the cleanest route is HSR to Shanghai Hongqiao, then the dedicated Airport Link Line (机场联络线) straight to PVG (~40 min, ¥26, every 15 min). If you ever come from central Pudong (Longyang Rd) instead, the Maglev covers the last hop to PVG in 8 min (¥50) — last one ~21:40.

Station names to book exactly right

Shanghai Hongqiao (虹桥) for the Hangzhou & airport legs · Hangzhou East (杭州东) · in Suzhou, book "Suzhou" (苏州站), never "Suzhou North" (苏州北).

Before & during

China Travel Essentials

💳 Payments

China is near-cashless and runs on QR codes. Set up Alipay and WeChat Pay and bind a foreign Visa/Mastercard before you arrive (both now support foreign cards + passport ID). Carry a little cash as backup.

📶 Connectivity

Get a travel eSIM or roaming that routes out of China, or a VPN installed before arrival — Google, WhatsApp, Instagram & Gmail are blocked on local networks. Roaming SIMs often bypass the firewall.

📱 Apps to load now

Rail 12306 · Alipay (+ DiDi mini-program) · WeChat · Trip.com · Amap/Gaode or Apple Maps (Google Maps is unreliable here) · a translation app.

🛂 Passport

Carry it everywhere — it's needed for train gates, attraction reservations, hotel check-in and museum entry. Keep photos/screenshots as backup.

🔌 Practicalities

Plugs are 220V, type A/I. Don't drink the tap water (bottled/boiled). Tipping isn't expected. Weather in early Oct: mild, ~19–27°C, pack a light layer & comfy shoes.

🆘 Emergency numbers

Police 110 · Ambulance 120 · Fire 119 · English tourism hotline 12301. Singapore citizens: MFA 24-hr Duty Office +65 6379 8800.

A few honest caveats — verify these close to travel

• Reservation dates use a 7/15-day window whose counting can be inclusive — set alarms a day early and check at 08:00.
• Prices & hours (garden ¥80 vs ¥90, boat fees) drift ¥5–15 and by season — treat as guidance, confirm in-app.
• SQ833's time/terminal can change — reconfirm at online check-in.
• China Railway occasionally issues a special holiday sale-date notice that shifts the 15-day rule slightly — check 12306's announcements in early September.