Tô Châu

Eat

Suzhou has its own unique, slightly sweet cuisine that tends to have very light and delicate flavors. Locals are very fond of freshwater fish and shellfish. Sweets made from glutinous rice paste are an old tradition here; these will generally baffle most Western palates, but try them anyway. A Suzhou speciality popular with many visitors is Song Shu Gui Yu (松鼠桂鱼 sōng shǔ guì yú), often rendered in English as "Squirrel-Shaped Mandarin Fish": the meat of a large fish is delicately cut into strips, breaded in flour, fried, and served covered with pine nuts and a sweet-and-sour sauce. It looks a little like a squirrel's tail... if you've drunk enough of the local rice wine. Another famous local dish is the slightly sweet braised cold duck (酱鸭 jiàng yā).

Stay safe

Suzhou is a safe place on the whole but there are a few things to watch out for. Pickpocketing is common on crowded buses, and around the north bus station and the train station. Pan-handlers and beggars around the old town can become a real nuisance although they are not dangerous. Watch out for incredibly pushy hawkers operating on Guanqian Jie shopping street - they generally charge ridiculous prices for counterfeit goods.

Taxis are generally safe although it's advisable not to follow touts operating around tourist sights or the train station. Also be aware that pedicab and 3-wheel tuk-tuk drivers are known to overcharge.

Probably the biggest safety risk in Suzhou are the electric scooters. These cheap, plastic, battery powered 2-wheel vehicles swarm around the city like ninjas and are renowned for driving anywhere possible - the wrong side of the road, the pavement, tiny alleyways and across crowded pedestrian crossings. They are almost silent and riders generally don't use headlights at night to save battery power - the only giveaway is their squeaky electric horns. Don't be surprised when you're walking down a busy pavement and one of these pocket-rockets whizzes past at 50 km/h without warning so always keep an eye and an ear out for them, particularly at night and at rush hour when the designated bike lanes become too crowded so the riders take alternate means.

Remember that in China it's legal for car drivers to make a right turn against a red light - albeit they …

Stay healthy

thumb|250px|Breathing may be difficult for some travelers

Some travelers may need to worry about the air quality in Suzhou, although the problem is not as bad as in nearby Shanghai or Nanjing.

As is the case for most of China, the tap water is not recommended for drinking but OK for washing. Filtered and boiled tap water is considered safer for drinking.

As Suzhou is a water town, there is a high presence of mosquitoes in the summer; luckily, repellant can be found in every convenience store, and they don't carry any known diseases in this area, so they're more of an annoyance than a hazard.

Connect

Suzhou has many free Wi-Fi access points as well as pay (¥2.5 per hour) Internet cafes.

Go next

Suzhou has a central position in East China and anywhere in the region is accessible. The other major cities of the area — Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou — are all both economically important and major tourist destinations. Some of the lesser cities may also be of interest: Wuxi is so close that people from either city often shop or dine in the other Yixing is famous for pottery, especially teapots Yangzhou is historically important and Zhengjiang, just across the river, was the girlhood home of Nobel Prize writer Pearl Buck See East China#Go next for some possibilities beyond the region.

Suzhou is close to Lake Tai, which is a major recreational area. Day trips to the lake are possible going straight west from Suzhou or going via towns which are right on the lake, Wuxi to the north or the Suzhou suburb Wujiang to the south. Longer trips are also possible; see the Lake Tai article.

The whole region around Suzhou is flat Yangtze Delta terrain and has water towns, once the market towns for agricultural areas. All have picturesque canals with old houses along them and many bridges, and many are set up to accommodate tourists. Suzhou itself is very much a water town, and some travellers will find that enough. However, smaller places may be more picturesque or better preserved. Many agencies in Suzhou offer tours to some of these — especially to ones within Suzhou such as Zhouzhuang, Tongli and Zhen Ze. All are within an hour's travel of central Suzhou, and the…