Suzhou

About 40mins on the express (D trains) train from Shanghai, this city has been called the "Venice of the East". Hardly, but it is a nice place, with some wonderful gardens and makes a good day-trip from Shanghai.

Gardens

We visited the following gardens and would recommend them all:

• Garden of Master of the Nets

  Much smaller than Humble Administrator's Garden, but perhaps more charming.

• Humble Administrator's Garden

  Massive and lovely. To be honest, I probably enjoyed the nearby streets as much as the garden itself, even if the touts were vexing.

• Panmen Gate and Ruiguang Pagoda

  Gorgeous garden and nice little pagoda.