Timeless China: Suzhou & Zhouzhuang Water Village Escape

Great trip. Good value. Informative English speaking guide. Mini bus quite cramped hence only 4 stars.

I recently took a day trip to Suzhou and Zhouzhuang Water Town with my guide Elena and it was hands down one of the best experiences I’ve had! From the moment the tour started, everything was perfectly organized, and I felt completely immersed in the rich culture and history of these two beautiful places.

Well the water village was pretty but a tour is enjoyable only when the tour guide is interested enough to show you around and give some info about the places and not just answer to the point. Our tour guide Elena was silent most of the Time , not interested to show much and did not give us time to spend at any of the places. Do not recommend this tour or the tour company. No response in anything.

We had two tours with the exceptional guide Tom. His English skill is amazing and his deep knowledge of Shanghai and China was fascinating. When I come back to Shanghai, I hope to have another tour with him. Also, the driver was safe and the food delicious.

I booked this tour for my family reunion of 11 adults to celebrate my mothers 90th birthday. Our tour guide Tom and driver picked us up in a comfortable and air conditioned 12 passenger van. It poured on our way from Shanghai to Suzhou but miraculously cleared up for our tour of Master of the Nets Garden. The rest of the day was beautiful, everyone had a marvelous time. The tour company was very responsive when I realized I lost my phone, returning my emails promptly. Luckily, a merchant in Zhouzhuang found my phone and messengered it back to my Shanghai hotel.

Elena was a wonderful guide. She was both informative and interesting, and made the Souzhou tour a wonderful experience. She topped it off with a tasteful lunch, an educational silk factory tour, and an authentic visit to the water towel with a gondola ride. We highly recommend this tour.

We enjoyed the entire trip. Get ready for a lot of traffic coming and going out of Shanghai, but it’s a good way to see rural China in the eyes of the water village. We felt the trip was well planned with a lot of things to see on Suzhou, the garden is incredible and the silk museum is worth it to learn some silk making and buy some real silk products. Our guide Elena was with us the whole time explaining about history and sights we were seeing. Lunch was actually good, would prefer to have it in the water village though. We wish we had more time to spend in the water village.

Water village was very good. A little more time to explore the site would have been nice. The guide could have provided a little more information and spoken a little louder. Overall, a very good experience, and recommended.

It was great to get away from the glass and steel towers of Shanghai and see the real beauty of Chinese gardens. The highlight was the water village, despite being busy it still felt peaceful and unspoiled.

Despite the dreary weather, my family had a great day trip out of Shanghai to check out these two spots. Our guide was quite knowledgeable and shared interesting stories about everything we saw. Besides the sights, we were also brought to a silk factory where we learnt about the process of making silk products. Also included was an authentic Suzhou-style meal.