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Sutherland (Nebraska)

Sutherland is a small town in Lincoln County, Nebraska. The 2005 population was 1,223, and Sutherland has been named the fastest growing community in Nebraska outside of the Omaha/Lincoln metro area.

Understand
As is true for most small towns in the Platte River valley of Nebraska, the earliest history of Sutherland can be traced to the westward migration. The Oregon-California trail generally ran south of the South Platte river, while the Mormon trail ran north of the North Platte river. In 1843, the Oregon-California trail began to see heavy traffic, and in 1847, the first contingent of Mormons traversed the trail.

O’Fallon’s Bluff, just southeast of Sutherland, was a famous landmark referred to by many travelers in their journals. In the days of the trails, the river ran along the base of the bluff. Wagons would converge in this bottle-neck from along a fairly wide path and move single-file between the bluff and the river.

During the years 1858 to 1860, there was a trading post, stage station and Post Office near O’Fallon’s Bluff. By 1866, troops sent to protect the wagon trains from ambush near O’Fallon’s Bluff had established Fort Heath. In 1867, the O’Fallon’s railroad siding, depot and Post Office were built north of the river opposite the bluff. It included a trading post and saloon. In 1869, after the completion of the overland railroad, “Cody Siding” was established along the Union Pacific near the site of present-day Sutherland.

Though the settlement was quite well established, it was not until 1891 that the railroad platted an official “town”. A post office was established in 1892, and the village of Sutherland, named for railroad official George Sutherland, was incorporated in 1905.

Though it was once a thriving community that boasted an opera house, several hotels, a movie theater, a bowling alley and numerous stores, Sutherland has developed into a bedroom community for the larger town of North Platte 25 miles east.

The primary occupation in the area is farming and ranching, although a large number of people are employed at Nebraska Public Power District’s Gerald Gentleman generation station five miles south of Sutherland, and at Union Pacific’s Bailey Railroad Yard, located in North Platte.

The ethanol industry is very important to Sutherland, with an existing plant producing nearly 25 million gallons of ethanol annually, and an expansion underway to produce 120 million gallons from corn grown locally.

Get in
The primary means of getting to Sutherland is Interstate 80, which runs east-west; US 25 comes into Sutherland from the south. Highway 30, named the Lincoln Highway Scenic Byway, runs east-west. Lincoln is 3.5 hours east on I-80; Cheyenne is 3.5 hours west on I-80; Denver is 3.5 hours west on I-80 and I-76.

North Platte Regional Airport  with connecting flights from Denver International Airport.

Get around
The easiest way to get around Sutherland is by car. The town is small enough that it is easy to walk around or use a bicycle.

Go next
By all means, get off of the beaten path! Go north out of Sutherland on Prairie Trace Road (East County Road on the east edge of town), and soon you will be in the beautiful Nebraska Sand Hills. You will be on pavement for about twenty miles, then the road turns to gravel. You can turn around here, or keep going, sticking to the "main" road, and you will end up back on Highway 30-Interstate 80 in Paxton.

You can also take Highway 25 south. This eventually connects to Interstate 70 in Kansas. You will be driving through Loess Hills on this drive.

 * Tin Camp Working Ranch,, 26 miles north of Sutherland, offering horse riding classes, roping lessons, experience working cattle, also birdwatching, wildlife watching, tubing, fishing and trail rides.

title: Sutherland (Nebraska)


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Sutherland (Northern Cape)

Sutherland is a town in the Northern Cape of South Africa. It is home to SALT, the South African Large Telescope, and other South African Astronomical Observatory telescopes. Sutherland's arid climate and remote location 1,450 metres (4,760 ft) above sea level make its night skies among the world's clearest and darkest. SALT is the largest single optical telescope in the southern hemisphere. Sutherland is the coldest town in South Africa.

By car
Sutherland is around 350 km from Cape Town. Follow the N1 north for about 230 km to Matjiesfontein and turn onto the R354. Follow the R354 for around 110 km until you reach Sutherland. All roads are tarred and in good condition.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Sutherland (Northern Cape)


text:
Sutri

Sutri is a city in the province of Viterbo in the Italian region of Lazio, about 50 km to the north of Rome. The town itself is situated on a narrow hill of tufo rock on the northern side of the Via Cassia but the main sights are to the south of that road. In ancient times Sutri was considered to have been a strategic location and was conquered by the Etruscans and Romans.

Get in
Sutri is on the Via Cassia, which connects Rome with Viterbo.

See

 * Roman amphitheatre. This measures 40m x 50m and is excavated out of the tuff rock. It is believed to be 1st Century Roman. The layout suggests that spectators stood rather than sat while watching proceedings. It seems to be rarely open to the public but the amphitheatre is clearly visible through the gate.
 * Etruscan necropolis. The area around the amphitheatre is surrounded by numerous tombs cut in the rock.
 * Santa Maria del Parto. A mithraeum was a place of worship for the followers of Mithraism. It was often constructed in a cave to resemble the cave where Mithras is said to have slain a sacred bull. The word has come to be used to refer to any secret place used for rituals. The one at Sutri dates back to Etruscan times and began as a tomb before being adapted by followers of Mithras in Roman times. In the Middle Ages it was converted to a church.

Do
It is easy to drive down the Via Cassia, see the sights and drive on. But the village of Sutri, opposite, is an attractive place to linger for a coffee or more substantial refreshment.

Go next

 * Viterbo, city of the Popes, is a short drive north.
 * Calcata, an abandoned hill town taken over by hippies, lies to the east of Sutri.

title: Sutri


text:
Sutter County

Sutter County is in the Sacramento Valley region of California.

Understand
Sutter County was one of the state's original counties at the time of statehood in 1850. In 1852 it was reduced in size, ceding some land to Placer County. The county is named for German immigrant John Augustus Sutter, who established a ranch in the area in 1841 and was one of the first people to recognize the Central Valley's potential for agriculture. Today nearly 90% of the county's land is used for farming and grazing.

The county is home to the Sutter Buttes, a circular complex of eroded volcanic lava domes approximately ten miles in diameter that are sometimes referred to as the world's smallest mountain range. Bordered by the Sacramento River on the west and the Feather River on the east, Sutter County also has an extensive levee system.

Get in
California State Route 99 is the county's primary north-south route, providing access to Sacramento in the south and continuing north through Yuba City and Chico before ending in the northern part of the state near Red Bluff.

Go next

 * - Bordering Sutter County to the northwest, Glenn County is an agricultural region that is most likely to be experienced by travelers passing through on Interstate 5. While it lacks significant amenities, there are a few options for travelers to experience small-town America at events such as the Glenn County Fair, held in mid-May in the town of Orland, or at the Thunderhill Raceway Park outside of Willows, home to the longest automobile race in the United States: the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.
 * - Named for the Marysville Buttes that are actually found in Sutter County, Butte County is a rural destination featuring rolling hills, rivers, and large agricultural areas. The town of Chico is a college town that is home to many excellent restaurants, massive Bidwell Park, and the National Yo-Yo Museum.  The town of Oroville boasts a downtown area that dates back to the Gold Rush, and is now home to America's tallest dam (tours available), behind which sits a reservoir that is enjoyed by boaters and hikers.  Further afield, 410 ft tall Feather Falls rewards hikers willing to traverse the 8 mi loop trail.
 * - Bordering Sutter County to the northeast, rural Yuba County is located along the western slope of the Sierra Nevadas, offering visitors recreational opportunities in the Plumas and Tahoe National Forests, and providing a glimpse into the area's Gold Rush past at the ghost town of Timbuctoo and neighboring Smartsville. The western side of the county is flatter, more populous, and primarily used for fruit orchards, rice fields, and grazing.
 * - Sutter County's eastern neighbor stretches from the suburbs of Sacramento to Lake Tahoe and the Nevada border. Named after the Spanish word meaning "sand or gravel deposits containing gold", the county was a hotbed of activity during the Gold Rush.  Today visitors can enjoy mountain activities such as hiking and skiing, and will also be impressed by the historic courthouse in Auburn.
 * - Bordering Sutter County to the south, Sacramento County stretches from the wetlands at the edge of the San Francisco Bay to the rolling hills of Gold Country. The Sacramento and American Rivers played prominent roles in the county's development, and today offer outdoor opportunities ranging from boating to fishing to birdwatching.  The capital city of Sacramento is located at the rivers' confluence, and visitors will appreciate its historic districts and more than 25 museums.
 * - With extensive farmlands, Sutter County's southwestern neighbor offers numerous opportunities for visitors to engage in agritourism: farmer's markets are held regularly, organic farms offer tours and the opportunity to pick your own produce, and more than 35 wineries can be found in the county. The college town of Davis is home to California's third-largest state university and boasts the highest number of bikes per capita in the USA, a statistic that led the US Bicycling Hall of Fame to move to the town in 2010.
 * - Located west of Sutter County, visitors to rural Colusa County will find an abundance of rice fields and almond trees, but a limited number of amenities and attractions. Sights that may be of interest include four national wildlife refuges, as well as the Colusa County Courthouse in the town of Colusa, which was erected in 1861 and is the oldest remaining courthouse in the Sacramento Valley.

title: Sutter County


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Sutter Creek

Sutter Creek is a city in Amador County, California. Amador City is a small town that is 2 miles (3.2 km) away.

By bus
Amador Transit provides bus service. Their phone number is: +1 209 267-9395. The main transit center is at Sutter Hill.

title: Sutter Creek


text:
Sutton

There is more than one place called Sutton:

Australia

 * Sutton (New South Wales)

Canada

 * Sutton (Quebec)
 * Sutton (Ontario)

England

 * Sutton (Bedfordshire)
 * Sutton (Berkshire)
 * Sutton (Cambridgeshire)
 * Sutton (Devon)
 * Sutton (Essex)
 * Sutton (London)
 * Sutton (Kent)
 * Sutton (Macclesfield)
 * Sutton (Merseyside)
 * Sutton (Newton)
 * Sutton (Norfolk)
 * Sutton (Oxfordshire)
 * Sutton (Somerset)

Ireland

 * Sutton (Ireland)

United States of America

 * Sutton (Massachusetts)
 * Sutton (Nebraska)
 * Sutton (New Hampshire)
 * Sutton (North Dakota)
 * Sutton (Vermont)
 * Sutton (West Virginia)

title: Sutton


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Sutton (Quebec)

Sutton is a village of 3,900 people (2011) in the Eastern Townships in the south-east of Quebec.

Understand
Like many other communities in the southwestern quadrant of the province, Sutton was an anglophone enclave in a predominantly Francophone province. Today Anglophones make up only 33% of the population, compared to 60% for Francophones and 5% for Allophones.

Because there are many Swiss people in the town, Sutton has many German-speakers. Every year Swiss National Day is celebrated at Mont Sutton ski resort on the last Saturday in July.

History
Like many other towns and villages in the Eastern Townships, Sutton became home to many United Empire Loyalists, following the American Revolution. In 1799 the first recorded Loyalists immigrated to the area, among them Richard Shepherd, originally of New Hampshire. During the 19th century, new buildings were erected to serve the town's growing population, among them a school in 1808 (located on the road linking the town to nearby Abercorn) as well as the town hall built in 1859. In the decades that followed, Protestant and Roman Catholic churches were built as was a railway station.

The economy has moved from one largely based on farming to one that is heavily reliant on tourism due to the opening of Sutton Ski Resort in 1960. Sutton has also become a popular destination for road biking, hiking and visits to vineyards making it an all-year tourist destination.

Get in
Sutton is on Route 139 about 90 minutes south-east of Montreal via Highway 10, or 80 minutes north of Burlington, Vermont via Interstate 89. It is on La Route Verte bicycle trail network which leads south to the US border at Richford and north to Bromont.

Limocar provides a 110 minute bus service between Sutton and Montreal.

Get around
There is no public transport in Sutton but the village is small enough to walk around. Nearly all services and restaurants are along rue Principale. From the centre of the village rue Maple snakes up to the Sutton mountains. The Sutton ski resort provides a free shuttle service from the village to the ski hill on weekends and school break weeks during the ski season. There is a taxi service - inquire at the Tourist Office on Main Street for details.

See

 * Start by visiting the Sutton Tourist Information Office at 24a rue Principale Sud. Their staff are very knowledgable and helpful. Pick up a leaflet for a self-guided walking tour which highlights historical buildings.

The Sutton Tourist Office as well as many restaurants and cafes have free wi fi. Local local internet café, Net Connect is open M-Sa 11:00-17:30, with very reasonable rates and Wi-Fi service is also available.

Do
Outdoor activities: The Sutton mountain provides the focus for the village's outdoor activities.

 * Hiking and snowshoeing is available on 60 km of well-maintained trails of all levels at Parc Sutton for which a $4 day pass is required, available at the Sutton Tourist Office on rue Principale opposite the Town Hall.
 * For downhill skiing and snowboarding Mont Sutton offers beautiful glade skiing at Quebec's third largest snow resort.
 * Cross country ski and snowshoe enthusiasts are well catered for at pleinairsutton.coop half-way between the village and mountain. This is also the location for Arbre Sutton, a tree top adventure park.

Cyclists can choose from quiet dirt roads or paved roads including La Route Verte, a Quebec-wide cycle route, which passes through Sutton.

 * Cultural Follow the walking trail through the village to visit examples of Sutton's Loyalist buildings or take a self guided drive of the area's cemeteries (maps available at the Sutton Tourist Office at 7 Academy behind the gas station has a regularly changing program of contemporary art exhibitions.
 * The Wine Route, is a signposted route that passes through Sutton and threads 18 small vineyards together, offering tasting opportunities as well as other seasonal activities. Just outside Sutton, Domaine Bresee makes an excellent rosé and also sells their own organic beef. In Glen Sutton, Chapelle Sainte Agnes vineyard has an outstanding location which can be visited on a guided tour on Wednesdays and Sundays in summer and autumn.
 * The Wine Route, is a signposted route that passes through Sutton and threads 18 small vineyards together, offering tasting opportunities as well as other seasonal activities. Just outside Sutton, Domaine Bresee makes an excellent rosé and also sells their own organic beef. In Glen Sutton, Chapelle Sainte Agnes vineyard has an outstanding location which can be visited on a guided tour on Wednesdays and Sundays in summer and autumn.

Buy
Rue Principal, the main road running through Sutton's center, is lined with shops of all kinds, including clothing stores, art stores, restaurants, and souvenir shops.

Eat
For a small village there is an excellent selection of restaurants and foodie outlets on Main Street. Food tends to be of a high quality and reasonably priced.

Sleep

The Sutton Tourist Office on rue Principale opposite the Town Hall has a complete listing of all Sutton lodgings

Go next
From Sutton the Townships Trail leads visitors along scenic routes to nearby towns such as Knowlton, Dunham amd Magog. Montreal is an easy 90-minute drive and Quebec City takes about 4 hours.

title: Sutton (Quebec)


text:
Sutton (West Virginia)

Sutton is a town of 876 people (as of 2020) in West Virginia. It's located in Braxton County, which is known as "the Geographic Center of West Virginia". Sutton was first settled in 1792, and incorporated in 1860, having been named in honor of one of the early settlers. The area is noteworthy for its Civil War heritage, as well as the Braxton County Monster (aka the Phantom of Flatwoods), a green space alien with fiery red eyes and a pungent odor that reportedly frightened a group of local residents in September 1952 and remains one of the most famous creatures in UFO lore.

Sutton sits directly adjacent to Sutton Lake, regionally popular for outdoor recreation. Sutton's twin town, the smaller town of Gassaway, population 769 is 2 miles west, on the other side of I-79. Flatwoods is a collection of mostly chain businesses adjacent to I-79, about 5 miles north of the town.

The Sutton area, including Gassaway and Flatwoods, is a major highway stop along I-79 in West Virginia, sitting at roughly the halfway point between Charleston to the south and Clarksburg to the north, and it is the last town with significant highway services before or after a more than 40-minute drive southwest on I-79 through a very rural area with sparse population and few services before beginning to enter the Charleston metropolitan area.

The proximity of the Sutton area to the Charleston area, as well being partway between it and the Morgantown-Fairmont-Clarksburg area makes it a popular day or weekend trip from these larger towns.

By car
Sutton is on I-79 and US-19, south of Clarksburg and Weston, just north of the spot where I-79 splits west toward Charleston while US-19 heads south to Summersville.

By train
The Elk River Railroad runs between Gilmer and Hartland, stopping in Gassaway, Shadyside and Frametown on the way.

By plane
The nearest major airports are in Clarksburg and Charleston, but the Braxton County Airport (Airport Road, +1 304-765-9031) is also capable of handling light twin-engine aircraft on its 4,000-foot runway.

Get around

 * Gassaway Cabs, 201 River Street in Gassaway, +1 304-364-5272.
 * Sutton Cabs, 206 Main Street, +1 304-765-5004.

See

 * The downtown Sutton historic district is roughly bounded by Main Street, River View Drive and First Street. Walking tours are available.
 * Elk St. is the main historic retail street in downtown Gassaway
 * Although the county as a whole lays claim to the title, the nearby town of Flatwoods is the precise geographical center of West Virginia.
 * Bulltown Historic District, Millstone Run Road off WV-19 in Burnsville, +1 304-853-2371 or +1 304-452-8170. Open 10AM to 6PM daily, mid-May to mid-October. Civil War battlefield, featuring preserved trenches, structures dating to the mid-1800s, a mile-long self-guided trail, and a visitor's center with costumed interpreters and exhibits. The Battle of Bulltown is re-enacted each fall.
 * Bulltown Historic District, Millstone Run Road off WV-19 in Burnsville, +1 304-853-2371 or +1 304-452-8170. Open 10AM to 6PM daily, mid-May to mid-October. Civil War battlefield, featuring preserved trenches, structures dating to the mid-1800s, a mile-long self-guided trail, and a visitor's center with costumed interpreters and exhibits. The Battle of Bulltown is re-enacted each fall.
 * Bulltown Historic District, Millstone Run Road off WV-19 in Burnsville, +1 304-853-2371 or +1 304-452-8170. Open 10AM to 6PM daily, mid-May to mid-October. Civil War battlefield, featuring preserved trenches, structures dating to the mid-1800s, a mile-long self-guided trail, and a visitor's center with costumed interpreters and exhibits. The Battle of Bulltown is re-enacted each fall.

Do

 * Mid-Mountain Lanes, exit 67 off I-79, 304-765-2811. Bowling alley with on-site restaurant.

Learn

 * The local newspapers are

Braxton Citizens' News, +1 304-765-5193.

Braxton Democrat Central, +1 304-765-5555, Serving Braxton County, West Virginia since 1883.

Eat

 * Giovanni's Pizza, in Burnsville, +1 304-853-2001. Italian cuisine, including pizza and spaghetti.
 * Giovanni's Pizza, in Burnsville, +1 304-853-2001. Italian cuisine, including pizza and spaghetti.
 * Giovanni's Pizza, in Burnsville, +1 304-853-2001. Italian cuisine, including pizza and spaghetti.

Go next

 * Summersville is about 40 minutes south on US-19.
 * Weston is about 40 minutes north on I-79.
 * Glenville is 45 minutes north; 25 minutes west of Burnsville Lake on WV-5
 * Fayetteville and New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is about 1 hour south on US-19
 * Clarksburg is about 1 hour north on I-79.
 * Charleston is about 1 hour southwest on I-79.
 * Richwood is about 1 hour south

title: Sutton (West Virginia)


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Suva

Suva is the capital of Fiji with a population of 94,000 in the city proper and 185,000 in the metropolitan area.

Understand
Suva is on the southeast coast of the main island of Fiji, Viti Levu. Suva became the capital of Fiji in 1877. Fiji's tallest building, the Reserve Bank of Fiji Building, is in downtown Suva, also known as the Central Business District (CBD).

The Fiji School of Medicine and one of the three campuses of the University of the South Pacific are in Suva.

Suva tends to be the major commercial and political centre of Fiji, whereas Nadi (pronounced "NAN-dee") is the major tourist centre.

Get in
Suva is accessible by airplane, bus, car and boat.

By plane
Fiji Airways (Fiji majority owned) provides national and international flights to Suva.

The closest airport is the, about 23 km (30 minute drive) away, in Nausori. Although Nausori International Airport caters mostly to the domestic market, connecting Suva with Fiji's other international airport in Nadi, it also serves some smaller international aircraft to New Zealand, Samoa and Vanuatu.

By bus and car
Buses connect Suva to all major cities in Viti Levu, arriving at the. People can take normal buses or mini-buses. Tourists are strongly not advised to use the mini-buses.

Three major roads exit Suva and lead to different parts of Viti Levu. Kings Highway leads east from Suva; the next major towns to the east are Nausori and Korovou. Queens Highway leads west from Suva, passing Lami; the next major towns to the west are Navua, Pacific Harbour, and Sigatoka. It takes approximately 4 hours by bus from Nadi to Suva via the Queens Highway. Princes Highway goes north from Suva, through Colo-i-Suva Forest Park, and eventually connects to Kings Highway in Nausori at the Rewa Bridge, the longest bridge in Fiji and the longest bridge of its type in the South Pacific.

Suva is one of Fiji's major harbors and is home to a fishing fleet and major port. Cruise ships also stop in Suva. Several boat companies cooperate with bus companies to permit travelers to visit other islands by taking a bus from Suva, using a roll-on/roll-off (or RO-RO) ferry, and continuing to the town destination on the island. One example if this bus/boat combination is the trip from Suva to Levuka (Fiji's former capitol) on the island of Ovalau.

By ferry
You can take a ferry from Taveuni via Savusavu to Suva.

Get around
Downtown Suva can be explored on foot. Tourists and residents often use taxis as they are affordable, plentiful and easy to access. People can also take a bus to travel around Suva and to major cities and towns for an even more affordable price.

Do
Unfortunately, there are no tourist-quality beaches in Suva. The closest tourist-quality beach to Suva is at Pacific Harbour. The beach at Apted Park (at the bottom of Laucala Bay Road) and the kitesurfing-friendly beach (on Queen Elizabeth Road, near the National Stadium) are often frequented by locals despite the high levels of trash and fecal coliform found in the water.

Local rugby and soccer matches can be exciting events and are free of riots. Rugby matches are most often held in, across from the Suva Lawn Bowls club. Soccer matches are often in the National Stadium on Laucala Bay Road. International hockey (field hockey) matches are at the National Hockey Stadium, near The University of the South Pacific and the National Stadium.

Eat
The Indian influence from the significant population in Suva is evident in the food. The Indian food in town is authentic, tasty, and good value.

For something upscale, try a restaurant inside one of the fancier Suva hotels, such as the Tanoa Plaza, the Southern Cross, or the Holiday Inn. For a quick economical meal in pleasant surroundings, go to the food court upstairs at the Harbour Centre and choose from a great variety of local and Chinese dishes (and you get to look before you buy) and sit and enjoy the view, or get a sack of fish and chips and sit by the waterfront or at the botanical garden.

Many international fast food outlets are found in the city including McDonald's and Nando's.

Stay safe
Suva is a friendly city, but there are some pickpockets and thieves. Avoid people who approach you asking for your name and country. They often want to lead you to a shop and then try to sell you overpriced souvenirs they might have hand-made themselves. Goods sold by these people are very overpriced -- tourists are strongly not advised to purchase anything from these places.

Do not let anyone lead you off to another location to see something such as a ship from your country as this is a scam to isolate you and put you in a weak position. You may later encounter something such as a robbery. Offers of anything free are probably not, even in friendly Fiji.

Embassies

 * 🇨🇳 China
 * 🇬🇷 Greece
 * 🇺🇸 United States

Go next

 * Nadi is 3 hours drive away towards the west of the island. Coral Sun run air-conditioned buses twice a day between Suva and Nadi (7:30AM and 4PM) also stopping by request at the resorts along the way. Buses depart outside the Holiday Inn in Suva and from the airport in Nadi. Costs $20 one way. Ph. +679 672 3105
 * Pacific Harbour is a 45-minute drive from Suva (towards Nadi). This is the adventure capital of Fiji offering scuba diving, snorkeling, cultural tours, etc. There are shops, cafes, a championship golf course, a man made beach called the Tiki pools and a big cultural centre. There is a range of accommodation here including private villas, backpackers and apartments.
 * Ovalau and Levuka are a 4½-hour bus and boat trip from Suva. Levuka is the former capital of Fiji. Patterson Brothers Shipping (+679 3315 644, patterson@connect.com.fj) has a daily bus and ferry service from Suva to the island of Ovalau, with bus service terminating at the town of Levuka. The bus for Patterson Brothers Shipping departs opposite the flea market at 1PM and arrives at Natovi at 3:30PM. The ferry departs from Natovi jetty at 4PM and arrives at Buresala jetty (Ovalau Island) at 4:50PM. The connecting bus departs Buresala at 5PM arrives at Levuka at 5:45PM. The ferry back to Suva departs Buresala jetty (Ovalau) at 5:45AM. You can also take your own car on this ferry service. Bookings should be made (for any trip, car or not) at least four days in advance, as the ferry and bus can become sold-out.

title: Suva


text:
Suwa

Suwa (諏訪) is a city in Nagano prefecture.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site.

Get in
The cheapest way to get here from Tokyo or Kyoto is by bus. You can also get to Suwa by train from Nagano, first go to Matsumoto and take the Limited Express on the Chuo Train line.

The bus station is across the street from the train station on Route 20. It is a small office on the outside of the Plaza.

Get around
Check for buses to Suwa sights.

There are three local bus routes on those ridiculous looking buses with the quince fruit on the outside. They can take you to Suwakoland, as well as shopping the big stores, and Montbell at Station Park.

You can walk to the castle, geyser, and around the downtown area. Trains to neighboring cities.

Rent a bicycle at the JR station rental agency. To reach the Yatsugatake, take a train to Chino and then a bus to Minodoguchi.

Eat
Soba, bee larvae, raw horse, and fried grasshopper are the local specialties.

Drink
There are many izakayas around the station area. Some small local bars in the downtown area. The izakaya in Suwa Plaza across from the station is part of a chain and quite nice.

Sleep
The best option for a budget traveler is to find a local English teacher and stay with them, or to camp on the west side of the lake, or up the hill behind Suwa near Kirigamine.

Go next

 * Okaya
 * Shimosuwa
 * Chino
 * Ina
 * Nagawa
 * Shiojiri
 * Tatsuno
 * Hara
 * Fujimi

title: Suwa


text:
Suwałki

Suwałki is a town with population of 70 000 inhabitants in Podlachia, Poland lying next to Czarna Hańcza river and close to the borders with Lithuania, Belarus and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. The town is situated in the very northeast corner of Poland.

Understand
Suwałki is known for having the lowest average temperature in Poland, it's sometimes called "the Polish pole of cold", but the climate is not really different than in other parts of the country.

By train
PKP timetable. There is one train per day from Warsaw, four from Białystok. The was built in 1896 and is, however small, an industrial monument on its own. The station is located northeast of the city centre.

By bus
The is located quite centrally in the city. There are bus connections from Vilnius in Lithuania, Riga in Latvia, Tallinn in Estonia, and large Polish cities such as Warsaw, Białystok and Olsztyn.

 * PKS w Suwałkach SA
 * Eurolines, Ecolines and FlixBus stop in Suwałki on their routes to the Baltic States.

By car
International transit road linking Baltic States and Western Europe Via Baltica is being constructed next to the city.

Get around
Centre is manageable on foot. There is public communication (around 15 bus lines) and taxis.

See

 * Classicist architecture of Kościuszko street
 * Co-cathedral
 * Complex of cemeteries of four faiths (Jewish was destroyed by Nazis but there are some remains - a wall made of broken matzevas)
 * Regional Museum, ul. Kościuszki 81
 * Modern Art Centre, ul. Kościuszki 45
 * Maria Konopnicka Museum, ul. Kościuszki 31

Buy

 * ulica Chłodna pedestrian zone

Go next

 * Sejny
 * Wigry and its former Camaldolese Priory
 * Augustów and its 19th century Canal that was part of connection between Baltic and Black seas (listed on tentative UNESCO World Heritage List)
 * Stańczyki Viaducts - unused viaducts from between the wars, one of the highest in Poland. Shapes inspired by aqueducts of Le Pont du Gard. 30 km north-west from Suwałki.

There is one train per day to Sestokai (Polish: Szostaków) town in Lithuania where you can change to train to Kaunas or bus to Marijampolė

title: Suwałki


text:
Suwon

Suwon (수원, 水原) is a city in the southern central part of Gyeonggi-do. As the provincial capital, it is the political, economic and administration center of Gyeonggi-do. Major subway lines and expressways connect to Suwon, making it a transportation hub. Additionally, despite its population exceeding one million since 2002, Suwon had been subject to the same administrative regulations as other local districts, facing difficulties in providing various services. Therefore, it has recently been granted the status of Suwon special case city, enabling it to enjoy a broader range of services.

Major attractions are Suwon Hwaseong, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the headquarters of Samsung Electronics.

Districts
Suwon is made up of four districts: Jangan, Kwonseon, Paldal and Yeongtong. Neighboring cities are Yongin to the east, Ansan to the west, Hwaseong to the south and Uiwang to the north.

 * Jangan-gu (장안구): The northwest of Suwon. It derives its name from Janganmun in Jangan-dong.
 * Gwonseon-gu (권선구): The southwestern part of Suwon. It is the largest district in Suwon in terms of both population and land area.
 * Paldal-gu (팔달구): The center of Suwon. Several government offices are located here, including those of the Gyeonggi-do Provincial Government, Suwon City Hall, Suwon Tax Office and Incheon Gyeonggi Regional Military Service.
 * Yeongtong-gu (영통구): The eastern part of Suwon. The planned city of Gwanggyo is located here.

Understand
A city located in south-central Gyeonggi-do.

The Gwanggyo Mountains, the developmental part of the Gwangju Mountains, passes through, and high and low hills appear here and there. The terrain generally slopes gently from northeast to southwest.

It is divided into four districts: Gwonseon-gu (권선구), Jangan-gu (장안구), Paldal-gu (팔달구), and Yeongtong-gu (영통구).

Climate
Suwon's continental climate is very similar to that of other cities in the Seoul area like Ansan.

The climate of Suwon is classified as a cold-temperate continental climate (Dwa). This classification takes into account the period during the winter season when temperatures can drop below minus 3 degrees Celsius.

Get in
For visitors to Seoul, Suwon can be treated like another suburb.

By subway
It is possible to travel from Incheon International Airport to Suwon solely using the Seoul Metro. First, take the Airport Railroad Express (AREX) to Seoul station. From Seoul Station, take the Line 1 (blue) south towards Cheonan and Sinchang Station. From the airport to Suwon should take a little over 2 hours. Make sure are on the correct train, as the track later splits and travels on two lines: towards Incheon (west) and towards Cheonan/Sinchang (south). You can transfer to the correct train at Guro Station if you're not on the right one. Prior to Guro Station there is an announcement about transferring from one line to the other.

Travel time to the center of Suwon (Suwon Station) from Seoul Station takes about an hour on Line 1. The following are the Line 1 subway stations in Suwon.

By train
The commuter trains from Seoul station to Suwon are much faster than the subway (30 – 35 min), but they run less frequently.

 * KTX: It operates 5 times a day and takes 35 min. It costs about ₩8,400. The first train is at 8:11 am and the last train is at 19:47.
 * Mugunghwa-ho (무궁화호): It operates 10 times a day and takes 30 – 40 min. It costs about ₩2,700. Morning rush-hour service (05:00–08:00) is crowded. The first train is at 05:53 and the last train is at 17:27.
 * ITX(ITX-새마을): It costs about \4,800. The first train is at 06:16 and last train is at 20:17.

By bus
There are various bus routes from Seoul.

 * Gangnam Station: buses 5100, 3000, 3003, 3007, & 3002
 * Sadang Station: buses 7000, 7770, 7001, 7780, & 7800
 * Seoul Station: bus 8800, M5107, M5121, M5422
 * There is also a bus service connecting Castle Hotel in Suwon with Incheon International Airport, which takes 60-90 min. This service operates 06:20-22:30 to the hotel and 04:50-20:30 to the airport, every 20-30 min and costs ₩12,000.

By Taxi
You can take a taxi at the taxi stand. The taxi stand is usually near the bus stop.

As of July 2023, the basic fare for regular taxis is ₩4,800 (₩5,800 at night), with a surcharge of ₩100 applied according to time and distance. (The basic fare is up to 1.6 km (1 mi), plus ₩100 per 135 m.)

By bus
The bus system in Suwon is reliable and cheap. Most major stops have a list of available bus lines with route information. Green buses typically run inside the city, and larger blue and red buses take passengers to Seoul and neighboring cities. Most major stops and points of interest are listed in English. English announcements on the bus are only for stops of tourist interest. Suwon Station is not the terminus for the bus lines, so make sure you are traveling in the correct direction.

By taxi
Taxis are prevalent in Suwon, and easy to use. Several offer free translation services. You should know a major feature near your destination as the taxi drivers may not know specific addresses or minor building names, however with a little patience and understanding you will find a taxi willing to get you near your destination. Some will even call English-speaking friends or relatives to help.

Taxis are easily identified, mainly gray, white or black with lit signs on top and on the front windows. Black taxis are called "luxury" taxis, tend to be more comfortable and spacious, go slower, and cost more. The gray or white taxis tend to be faster and cheaper but may also drive more recklessly.

By subway
There are four stops on Seoul Subway Line 1 (blue) that service Suwon. Suwon Station is the most central and largest, the second largest in the country, and also houses the train station proper, where you can catch a train to nearly anywhere else in South Korea.

In addition to Line 1, there are also Suin-Bundang and Shin "New" Bundang Lines that serve Suwon. The Suin-Bundang Line connects to Yongin, Gangnam, Hwaseong, Ansan, Siheung, and Incheon, with the termini being Incheon Station and Cheongnyangni Station (most northbound trains end a stop earlier at Wangsimni Station). Finally, the Shin Bundang Line is a faster option connecting Gangnam and Yongin to the Gwanggyo area of Suwon (near Ajou University).

By bicycle
Cycling in Suwon is easy as the sidewalks are wide, and many are pavements are meant for both pedestrians and cyclists. There are only a few challenging hilly areas in Suwon and pedestrian traffic is not congestive in most areas. In addition to Bandicle, there are other shared bicycle services in Gyeonggi-do, such as Every Bike(에브리 바이크), TAZO(타조), and Kakao Bike(카카오 바이크).

On foot
Suwon is a large city, but walking can be a nice alternative to driving around downtown, the markets and the vicinity of the fortress. Walking from Suwon Station to the fortress or to Suwon Bus Terminal is doable at a stretch.

See

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Cultural heritage

Do

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Buy
There are many department store and shops in Suwon. Jewelry, clothing and accessories are available at department stores, and daily necessities are available at supermarkets. Also, there are traditional markets that have existed for a long time.

Eat
The food court in the mall at the train/metro station is excellent and extensive. You can get a fantastic meal for ₩4,500 and select from many choices; there's a showcase displaying all your choices. Besides plentiful traditional Korean restaurants, there are many places which serve other cuisines and fast food. Suwon is famous for its Galbi (sweet marinated ribs). Restaurants near the Yeongtong Square (Sagori) serve Galbi. There's also an excellent Galbi restaurant right across the street from the World Cup Soccer stadium. Vegetarian restaurants are hard to find, but they do exist.

Suwon is famous for Galbi. But it is famous to effected to other food (ex. chicken). In 2019, Extreme Occupation, the Korean movie, was opened. this movie watched by 16 million people in Korea. In this movie, very special food that called to 'Suwon Wang Galbi Chicken' appeared. it mixed Galbi sauce and fried chicken in Korea And Suwon is the place of origin this. As the movie became famous, this food also became famous and it is result to Suwon' new Tourism.

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Drink
Major nightlife seems to revolve around three areas: Ingyedong, Yeongtong, and Nammun (Paldamun).

In Ingyedong, you will find an amazing number of hofs, bars, restaurants, hostess bars, etc. There's also several Korean nightclubs such as Juliana, Boss etc.

Nammun is big among the university students of Suwon. It has a fashion street and the majority of nightlife is centered on Rodeo Street which is behind the main street to the left of Nammun Gate.

Other areas that offer some nightlife options include the Ajou University area and the Suwon Station area. Where you will find:

Yeongtong has the one of the major concentration of foreigners in Suwon city. Most of them are employees of Samsung Co. and the second dominant group are English teachers.

Budget
Features of Suwon accommodation include a large number of love hotel-style motels. They are usually concentrated in the bar area in Ingye-dong, near Suwon Station. It is not just a love hotel-style motel. There are various types of accommodation. There are guest houses, hotels, and jjimjilbangs.

Starting with jjimjilbangs, there are accommodation ranges ranging from ₩7,000 to ₩100,000.

Jjimjilbangs
When using jjimjilbangs, it is essential to use a bathhouse. After taking a shower in a wooden bath, you can enter the sauna wearing jjimjilbang clothes. The average price range is ₩7,000 to ₩10,000. There is a sleeping room in the sauna, where you can sleep well. You may be embarrassed by the Korean culture of public bath, but it will also be a good experience. The jjimjilbang operates 24 hours a day and has no reservation system.

Guest house
Suwon is not a tourist destination. There are few guest houses, and the facilities are not good.

Hotel
There are many hotels in Suwon. The distribution ranges from expensive hotels to cheap ones.

Go next
Head up to Seoul via Anyang or Uiwang or down south to the hot springs resort of Ansan and neighbouring Cheonan, where you can visit the Independence Hall of Korea.

title: Suwon


text:
Suzdal

Suzdal (Russian: Су́здаль) — the main historic town of Central Russia, about 25 km north of Vladimir, Vladimir Oblast. It was once the capital of several Russian principalities. Later during Soviet times it earned a federally protected status, which limited the development in the area. Thus the place remains largely the same as ages ago. It was able to preserve a great number of stunning examples of the Russian architecture of the 13th-19th centuries: the Kremlin, several monasteries, countless white-stone temples, complemented by a Museum of wooden architecture.

Although having just under 10,000 residents, Suzdal retains a rural look with streams and meadows everywhere and chicken and livestock a common sight on the streets, some of which remain unpaved. This juxtaposition of stunning medieval architecture with its pastoral setting lends Suzdal a picturesque charm.

It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most interesting of the Golden Ring cities.

History
The town was founded in the 10th century and was subordinate to Rostov Veliky. Later in 1125 Grand Prince Yury Dolgoruky made Suzdal the capital of the Rostov-Suzdal principality. His son Andrey Bogolyubsky built new capital Vladimir, and principality began to be known as Vladimir-Suzdal. Suzdal's political influence started to fade away. Although it was for a short time the centre of Suzdal-Nizhny Novgorod Principality in the fourteenth century. It finally was annexed by Moscow in 1392.

Stone construction in Suzdal was started at the beginning of the thirteenth century before the Mongol invasion. A single Church was built — the Nativity Cathedral of Suzdal Kremlin. Once the Tatar-Mongol invasion ended and the political situation stabilized, stone construction started again in 16th century. It was just slightly inferior to the construction held in Moscow, it continued to prosper until the end of the eighteenth century. At this time Suzdal was an important trading city, located in the heart of a rich agricultural region. In the 19th century Suzdal stopped developing because the Trans-Siberian Railway bypassed it and due to the absence of factories in town. For this reason town's appearance has remained unchanged.

During the time of the Soviet Union, nearly all of Suzdal's economy was planned around its tourist potential. As a result, very few modern buildings were constructed in Suzdal (by law there are no structures more than 2 stories high except cathedrals). Also, wooden structures from other parts of Russia were transported here, and the whole city was converted into an 'open-air museum'.

Tourist high season is summer and mid-winter, with numbers of visitors peaking at weekends and holidays. During off season the city is quiet even on weekends without losing much of its charm.

Get in
There are no trains to Suzdal, so aside from organized bus tours, the only way to reach the city is by bus or car.

By train
The closest train station is in Vladimir. All trains running from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod stops there. Travel time by high-speed train from Moscow to Vladimir — 1 hr 40 min, by slow — 3-3½ hr.

Vladimir's bus station is 50 m away from the train station (across the parking lot).

By bus
Buses from Vladimir depart every 20-30 min, 06:30 — 21:40, but take your time to find a bus station that brings you back, as it might not be obvious from where to start the journey back. Besides, there are buses from Ivanovo, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Moscow (once daily from Moscow's Shelkovskaya bus station and couple more from Moscow's Kursky Train Station, travel time 4 hr).

Infrequent (2-3 times a day) suburban buses go from Suzdal to Kovrov and Gavrilov Posad. No direct connections to Yuryev-Polsky.

By car
Along A-113 road from Vladimir (40 km) or Ivanovo (80 km). If coming from Moscow (220 km), follow Vladimir's Northern old bypass, then turn left.

Get around
Local buses operates on a four routes. However, you most likely won't need them, as the town is quite small.

Taxis can be found in abundance in front of the shopping arcade. They can be useful for a trip to Kideksha.

See
Suzdal is a small town with a population of ten thousand people, predominantly wooden buildings and a huge number of stone churches and monasteries. No matter how hard you push to see everything in one single day, it will be extremely difficult. The following sights are the must on any trip to Suzdal: However, there is another way to see Suzdal: just walk around slowly, try to get away from the crowds, get to the churches on the outskirts. This walk can turn into a totally unforgettable experience.
 * The majority of Suzdal's churches and monasteries are of the 17-18th centuries. With only one building being of the pre-Mongol period, though seriously remodeled, — Cathedral of the Nativity in the Kremlin.
 * Kideksha village, featuring real pre-Mongolian Church, is on the UNESCO World Heritage list.
 * The most interesting architectural sights — the main cathedrals and towers of St. Euthymius Monastery and Pokrovsky Monastery. Also holy gates of the Rizopolozhensky Monastery.
 * The most unusual churches - churches with concave tents which can't be found anywhere else except of Suzdal. There are a few of them outside of town's center.
 * Museum of wooden architecture — possibly, the best in Central Russia
 * Bells listening. For this go to the Monastery of Saint Euthymius.

Suzdal Kremlin
The oldest preserved part of the city is Suzdal Kremlin. It is protected on three its sides by river Kamenka, and on the last one - an 11th-century earthen rampart, which still can clearly be seen near Assumption, summer St. Nicholas and winter Nativity churches. ₽400

Do

 *  Cucumber Day (Pickle festival) - Each 3rd Saturday of July. A holiday to celebrate Suzdal's cucumbers, which have a reputation as the best cucumbers in central Russia, is celebrated with a folk music festival.

Eat
You will not find any trace of Western chain shops or hotels here.

Drink
The beverage of choice in Russia is vodka, by far. Suzdal, however, is famous for another drink, medovukha, a Russian type of cider made from honey. Tourists should be wary of purchasing this drink on the streets, though, for counterfeits are common. Ask your guide where you can buy real medovukha.

Sleep
Suzdal has a wide variety of offerings. There are many small hotels with 5-20 rooms. Advance booking is crucial for those who intend to visit during the New Year holiday season, Independence Day, and during the summer high season.

Go next

 * Kovrov — the second largest city in the region with a major defense industry presence
 * Murom — a large ancient city (9th century) with enormous history and cultural importance to Russia; home to the 11th century Saviour Monastery and several cathedrals
 * Vladimir — 900-year-old city and home to numerous Russian cultural monuments on the UNESCO World Heritage list, which attract hordes of tourists each summer on the Golden Ring circuit
 * Yuryev-Polsky — a town notable for its 13th-century Cathedral of Saint George and the Monastery of Michael the Archangel

title: Suzdal


text:
Suzhou

"上有天堂，下有苏杭 Heaven has paradise; Earth has Suzhou and Hangzhou"

- Chinese proverb

Suzhou (苏州; Sou-tseu in Wu, Sūzhōu in Mandarin, old romanization "Soochow".) is a city in Jiangsu province, famed for its beautiful gardens and traditional waterside architecture. A group of gardens form a. The town has many canals; Marco Polo called it the Venice of the East.

Districts
Suzhou is a prefecture-level city in the Chinese system of administration, which makes the name "Suzhou" somewhat ambiguous; it can refer either to the city itself or to the entire administrative area. This article covers the city; some towns within the administrative area — Kunshan, Changshu, Zhangjiagang, Taicang and Wujiang — have separate articles.

The other districts of the city (with population numbers as of 2020) are: Many of the city's large expatriate community live either downtown or in the SIP, and most of the bars and restaurants catering to them are in those areas. These may also be good for visitors; most have international menus and English-speaking staff and many have live music, often Filipino bands.

Wuzhong and Wujiang are along Lake Tai, and both have popular beaches.

Wikipedia has a complete list of the administrative divisions with a map.

Orientation
Downtown Suzhou is completely surrounded by a large, rectangular canal known as the Hucheng River (Hucheng Hé), which is connected to China's Grand Canal. Within the rectangle, 9 east-west canals and 12 north-south canals run through the city. Most of the major sights are within this area.

Outside the main canal is the ring road which is divided into east (Donghuan Lu), west (Xihuan Lu), north-east (Beihuan Dong Lu), north-west (Beihuan Xi Lu), south-east (Nanhuan Dong Lu) and south-west (Nanhuan Xi Lu) sections. It forms a rectangle on the map. The main long-distance transport hubs are along this road, and bus #10 runs in a complete loop of the ring road.

East of the ring road, Jinjihu Lake marks the centre of the SIP with two main through roads crossing the lake (Xiandai Avenue to the north and Jinjihu Avenue to the south). Most streets in the SIP have names beginning with Xing (from 'Xingjiapo', the Chinese rendering of Singapore) for east–west routes and Su (Suzhou) for north–south routes.

The two main roads in downtown are Renmin Lu (north-south, Metro Line 4 runs under it) and Ganjiang Lu (east-west, Metro Line 1 runs under it). Both are well-provided with shopping, hotels and restaurants. Ganjiang Lu has a bridge into the SIP at its east end.

Two streets of importance to travellers run east off Renmim Lu. Guanqian Jie, a bit north of Ganjiang Road, is a busy pedestrians-only shopping street near the center of town, with the Taoist Temple of Mystery and a flea market area toward its east end. Shiquan Jie, south of Ganjiang Road, has restaurants, bars, hotels, the main Suzhou tourist information office, much tourist-oriented shopping, and the Garden of the Master of the Nets.

Guanqian Jie and Shiquan Jie are within walking distance of each other via Renmin Lu on the west, Fenghuan Rd further east or various smaller streets in between. The back streets are not particularly scenic but do have some good shopping, especially for moderately-priced clothes and shoes.

Understand
Suzhou has always been a major center of Wu culture which developed in the region around Lake Tai; a Suzhou accent in the Wu language is still considered prestigious, even though the language is now often called "Shanghainese". Suzhou was the capital of the Kingdom of Wu in the first millennium BCE, but through most of history Wu has not been an independent state.

The area was settled much earlier, but the city walls that defined what we now know as Suzhou were built in the late 6th century BCE. By 100 CE Suzhou was one of the ten largest cities on Earth, and in the early 19th century it was the world's largest non-capital city. Throughout this history, Suzhou was clearly the most important city of its region; Shanghai was just a walled town near the river mouth and the officials there reported to higher-ranking officials in Suzhou.

Starting in the mid-19th century, Shanghai boomed due to foreign trade; today it is far larger than Suzhou and very much the center of the area. However Suzhou is still a very significant city; the core city has over five million people, and the whole urban area more than ten million. The entire region is prosperous.

Suzhou has been a center of the silk trade and a place of gardens and canals for centuries. It has long been both a center of commerce and a haven for scholars, artists, and skilled craftsmen. "Suju is a very great and noble city. They possess silk in great quantities,... it hath merchants of great wealth and... accomplished traders and most skilful craftsmen. There are also in this city many philosophers and leeches, diligent students of nature."

- Marco Polo, 13th century

All of that is still the case today, over 700 years later. In Imperial China, Suzhou was a popular destination for retired scholars and officials, many of whom built classical Chinese gardens around their homes; even lesser houses and some commercial buildings often have lovely small gardens or courtyards. The Classical Gardens of Suzhou are a.

Today, East China is one of the country's most prosperous and fastest-growing regions, and Suzhou is very much part of that. A wander off the beaten path and into some of the old neighborhoods can be quite a treat, but their seediness and crowded conditions provide a stark contrast to the endless billboards at the edge of the city advertising suburban developments that would not look out-of-place in any allegedly "more developed" country.

Suzhou is a bustling modern city, though you can still see traces of a very old lifestyle centered around the canals. Come prepared to feel a bit betrayed by the guidebooks singing the praises of a quaint thousand-year-old city. The old city center around the canals still has a very high concentration of traditional Chinese buildings in the Jiangnan architectural style, however, making it a great place to snap some postcard-worthy photos to show your friends back home.

Suzhou boasts one of the hottest economies in the world; the city is a major center of high-tech manufacturing and the world's largest single producer of laptop computers. The Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) east of downtown and the Suzhou New District (SND) in the west have dozens of factories for both Chinese and foreign companies, and many that are joint ventures. This makes for a sense of stark contrasts: The outskirts of town were farmland just a few decades ago, but now there are four-lane highways connecting the city to Shanghai... four-lane highways with pedestrians, bicyclists and pedicabs using the breakdown lanes.

The SIP is definitely the main center for the computer and communications industries, but it is by no means alone. The SND on the opposite side of downtown is also doing very well and seems to be becoming a hub for biotech industries. The whole region is booming and electronics are only part of a very diverse industrial base; products include microchips, flash memory systems, electronics, computer equipment, telecommunications components, power tools, chemicals and materials, automotive components and pharmaceuticals. Kunshan, Wujiang, Changshu, and Zhangjiagang, all administratively "county-level cities" or districts within the prefecture-level city Suzhou, are also growing rapidly, as is the neighboring prefecture-level city Wuxi.

Suzhou has a large expatriate community, many associated with the factories but also the English teachers, Filipino musicians and others found anywhere in China. Compared to other Chinese cities, Suzhou has a higher proportion of expats from other Asian countries: the SIP development was a joint venture between the Suzhou and Singapore governments, and there has been much investment from Singapore and Malaysia. Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Indian companies are there as well; Samsung has large factories in Suzhou, including their first semiconductor fabrication plant outside Korea. Of course, there are also many Chinese and Western companies.

Talk
The language of the region is the Wu dialect; it is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin, or any other Chinese dialect for that matter. Suzhou is the traditional cradle of Wu culture, and a Suzhou accent has some prestige, even though the language is now often called "Shanghai dialect" or "Shanghainese". Therefore, Suzhou is a good place to learn to speak Wu Chinese. However, as anywhere in China, most people are bilingual in the local dialect and Mandarin, and you should have no problem speaking Mandarin unless you are talking to the elderly.

Suzhou is a prosperous city with huge numbers of migrant workers, mostly from poorer provinces. People in the service industries that you may encounter — taxi drivers, waitresses, hairdressers... — are more likely to speak Mandarin than Wu, and quite likely to have a Sichuan or Anhui accent.

English is not widely spoken; staff at the better hotels and in tourist-oriented shops or the expatriate bars will speak some, but the level varies enormously. Do not expect cab drivers or staff in local restaurants or railway ticket offices to speak any English; some will surprise you, but this is rare. Be sure to have the names of your destinations written in Chinese, so that taxi drivers can get you there; carry a business card for your hotel so they can get you back to it.

By plane
Suzhou does not have a civilian airport. The closest airports with flights of use to most travellers are the two in nearby Shanghai. The airport in Wuxi is closer, but it is relatively small and serves mostly domestic flights. Nanjing and Hangzhou are other alternatives; both are large airports with a range of flights and easily reached from Suzhou.

Via Shanghai
Pudong Airport has many international flights and Hongqiao Airport  has mostly domestic flights, but also some flights to nearby countries. They are 120 km (75 mi) and 86 km (53 mi) away from Suzhou respectively.

Regular shuttle buses run between Suzhou and both Shanghai airports, taking about an hour to Hongqiao and one hour and forty minutes to Pudong.

A shuttle bus between Pudong and Hongqiao leaves every 10 minutes from 06:00-18:00 and costs ¥30.

Hongqiao airport can be reached from Suzhou by train; some of the Suzhou-Shanghai bullet trains go to Hongqiao Railway Station which is only about a km from the airport — one stop on the metro or a walk that is fairly long but all indoors and level. The trip takes less than half an hour. Be certain your ticket is for Hongqiao station; some trains go to the original Shanghai Railway Station, which is nowhere near the airport.

It is also possible to reach Pudong Airport by train, but this is much less convenient. From Hongqiao Station, metro line goes to Pudong Airport but it takes over an hour and you need to change trains once; it is still called line 2 but you need to walk across the platform and get on a different train.

Via Wuxi
Wuxi is only a few kilometers from Suzhou and, like Suzhou, is a traditional center of Wu culture and a hi-tech hub today. Wuxi Airport is southeast of the town (toward Suzhou) and has flights from major Chinese cities and a few international flights (e.g. from Taiwan). From the airport to Wuxi city center (Wuxi train station) there are infrequent (every 30 minutes) buses, just on the right side when you exit the airport (look for a blue plate with Chinese characters and timetable for 1,2,3 routes). Allow at least 40 minutes to ride to Wuxi center and about 15 minutes for a ride between Wuxi and Suzhou on a high-speed train.

Via Hangzhou
Hangzhou is well worth a visit; like Suzhou, it is both an ancient city with UNESCO-listed heritage sites and one of China's most modern and prosperous cities. Its airport has a good range of domestic flights and some international. The Air Asia flight to Hangzhou from Kuala Lumpur is usually the cheapest way to central China from Southeast Asia.

There is a bus between Suzhou and Hangzhou airports. You can go to the waiting room, which is north of Entrance 5 to the Arrival Hall, First Level of Terminal Building. Price range is ¥20-30 per person.

There are also city-to-city connections, using either fast trains or buses. The trains go via Shanghai while the buses take a more direct route, so the difference in travel time is not huge.

Via Nanjing
Nanjing is only about an hour from Suzhou via the frequent high-speed trains and is worth a visit; it is a very important city in both Chinese history and today's economy. Its airport has flights from all major Chinese cities and some international flights. Lufthansa fly Frankfurt-Nanjing, partly because the German company Siemens have had a factory in Nanjing for decades; one of their German managers is a hero in China for saving many people from the Japanese during the 1937 Nanjing Massacre.

By train

 * See also High-speed rail in China

There are four major train stations in Suzhou:

Suzhou station and the SIP and SND stations are on the main line from Shanghai to Nanjing, but not all trains stop at all stations; you have to specify when buying the ticket.

The slower, cheaper and more crowded T- and K- services from other provinces on their way to Shanghai or Nanjing stop at Suzhou Station, but most travellers prefer the fast D- or G- trains.

Buying train tickets using self-service machines in the stations is no longer possible without a Chinese ID card. Foreigners must buy at the counter at the railway station or at railway ticket offices throughout the city, and must provide their passport as ID. It is often wise to book tickets a few days in advance as trains fill up quickly, especially during public holidays, but the more expensive fast trains can generally be booked the same day.

Most travel agents and some hotels will pick up tickets for you for a small additional fee.

From Suzhou or Suzhou North stations, the quickest way into town is by metro. Line 4 serves Suzhou station and runs north–south through the center of downtown. Line 2 serves both Suzhou and Suzhou North stations. Also, each station has a taxi rank; you may have to queue but it rarely takes long. As anywhere in China, it is safer to ignore the taxi touts inside the station and just go to the taxi rank.

From Suzhou Station, you can also get downtown either by bus or on foot. Many city buses start from a terminus just across the street from the station. Most services will head towards the Guanqian Street/Ganjiang Lu area of downtown (15-20 minutes), although it's advisable to check. Buses 6, 26, 29, 178 go to the SIP. It is possible to buy a tourist map (English-Chinese, ¥10) indicating the bus routes in one of the tourism offices on the lefthand side of the walkway leading up to the North exit. Once outside the station, the bus stops can be found on the righthand side. Bus You1 and You4 (both heading towards Renmin Lu) leave from platform 4.

On foot, it takes about 20-30 minutes to walk to most of the sights - simply go outside the station and head right. At the first intersection, make an immediate right into either one of two tunnels heading under the train tracks. A pedestrian path is available that will take you to the old part of town. Once you cross the river, the 8-story pagoda called Beisi Ta (North Temple Pagoda) should be in plain sight.

If you are adventurous you can try to unofficial e-bike taxi - guys standing right to the station outside, you can negotiate to about ¥20 to the city center.

By metro
Both Suzhou metro line 11 and Shanghai metro line go to Kunshan, so it is possible to travel between Shanghai and Suzhou by metro.

By bus
Suzhou has three main bus stations:

The China Eastern Airlines City Air Terminal near the intersection of Renmin Lu and Ganjiang Xilu also has a small terminal for shuttle buses to Shanghai Hongqiao and Pudong airports, see Get In/By plane for details.

By bicycle
If you are feeling adventurous, it is possible to cycle from Shanghai to Suzhou in 2-3 hours (70 km). From Shanghai city centre, head west towards Hongqiao Airport (following the route of Metro line 2) and follow the S343 Provincial Highway. This road can be quite busy but there's a segregated cycle path along its entire length and the route is entirely flat. The road passes through the attractive water town of Luzhi (20 km east of Suzhou) making a nice stopping off point and the road will bring you into the Suzhou Industrial Park and ends at Donghuan Lu (the east part of the inner ring road).

By boat
Riverboats on the Yangtze stop at Suzhou. See Along the Yangtze river.

By metro
The Suzhou Metro or SRT (Suzhou Rail Transit) has 5 lines and is rapidly growing. Lines 1 and 4 are most useful to visitors, as they form a cross shape in the middle of downtown. Line 1 runs east–west, while lines 2 and 4 run north–south.

Fares start at ¥2 for up to 6 km, then ¥3 for 6-11 km, ¥4 for 11–16, ¥5 16–23, ¥6 23–30; going the whole length of Line 1 is ¥6.

Walking
Downtown Suzhou, where most attractions are, is a rectangle about 6 by 3 km in size. Depending on your stamina and the weather (summers can be up to 40 degrees), it may be possible to walk between the various sites. Be warned that walking in downtown is not relaxing: most sidewalks are narrow and clogged with parked scooters meaning that you'll end up walking in the bike lane or in the road. Also, around the subway construction sites the sidewalk and bike lane disappear altogether. Keep your eyes and ears open.

Walking in the SIP is more pleasant as roads and sidewalks are wider, and traffic is less heavy.

To make sure you don't get too lost, ask your hotel concierge to write out the name of your destinations, as well as how to get back. Make sure to add your own notes so you know what the translation is.

Taxis
Suzhou's rattling old silver-and-teal VW Santana taxis are a very reasonably priced way of getting around and are easily available outside of rush hour. Fares start at ¥10 for 3 km and tick up at ¥3.2 per km, so most trips within the city are cheap. That said, Suzhou's cabbies are infamous for their lack of local knowledge (most of them are migrants from poorer provinces) so having an address or phone contact to your destination will save you a lot of hassle. Driving style is best described as aggressive, although serious accidents involving taxis are rare. Taxi touts work near tourist destinations and the train station - always use the taxi queue or flag one down from the street (available taxis have a green light on the front dash). Always get a receipt from the taxi driver at the end of the ride, so you may call the taxi company if you have left anything behind or need to dispute a fare.

Few, if any taxi drivers speak English or any other foreign languages, so be sure to get your hotel's business card, and have the names addresses of your destinations written in Chinese to show your taxi driver.

Taxi reservation hotline +86 13004597814 (1~3day notice preferred)

Bus
Taking a bus in Suzhou is relatively easy if you have a basic grasp of Chinese, or horribly bewildering if you don't. Buses cover the whole city, run at 10-20 minute frequencies from 05:00-21:00 on most routes and are a cheap way of getting around. All bus information boards and onboard announcements are in Chinese only, however, bus route information can also be found on Google Maps.

Fares are based upon the distance between where you board and the last stop of the bus - most times you will pay ¥1-2, although some longer routes such as the #69 to Xishan charge up to ¥5; the fare will be displayed on the bus schedule as well as on a digital display above the driver's seat. Exact change is required, so keep plenty of ¥1 coins handy. Buses displaying a green or blue 'snow-flake' symbol next to the route number have air-conditioning and a ¥1 surcharge is paid on top of the regular fare (regardless of whether the A/C is switched on or not).

There are five handy tourist buses numbered Y1-5: all serve the railway station and connect most of the tourist sights within the city proper, so if you are unfamiliar with the city, they are a good way to familiarize yourself.

Buses are often crowded, and it's good custom to offer your seat to elderly, disabled or mothers with children.

If you are in town for a while, it's advisable to get a Suzhou-Tong card (available from several outlets around town); it's a prepaid smart-card that gives you a 10% discount on bus travel.

As Suzhou city is relatively small and there are many places in the city where subways are being built. So there are often traffic jams. So if you need to drive, taking a cab or bus may take a lot of time. It is recommended to allow sufficient time to travel.

By bicycle
Cycling is an interesting but sometimes hair-raising way of exploring Suzhou. But cycling is much safer here than in, say London or New York, as Suzhou has an excellent network of cycle paths running alongside most major roads, however, these also double up as scooter paths, sidewalks and parking lots; and some are rather potholed, so stay alert. See Driving in China for general information on traffic conditions.

Conveniently for both walkers and bicyclists, Suzhou and the surrounding countryside are almost entirely flat. There are no mountains anywhere nearby and few hills.

Bikes can be rented from most youth hostels or small bike shops at around ¥30 per day for a slow, heavy 1-speed city bike. If you are staying a while, it may be cheaper to buy since bikes start under ¥200 in supermarkets. The Bicycle Kingdom rental agency on Pingjiang Lu has road bikes and mountain bikes to rent for around ¥150-300 per day depending on the model.

Remember to always keep your bike locked when not in use: bike theft is a major problem, particularly downtown. Always leave your bike somewhere brightly lit and crowded. In some places (particularly around Guanqian Jie), attendants will keep an eye on your bike for a small payment (typically ¥0.50).

See below for bicycle shops.

Pedicabs
Pedicabs (rickshaws) are available on most main streets and always near tourist attractions. Negotiate the price before you get in and don't allow the driver to change it once you arrive at your destination, for example, saying ¥15 and demanding ¥50. This is a slow means of travel but it allows you to actually see the city while you go somewhere. Despite what you might expect, pedicabs are often more expensive than taxis - and be warned that 99% of Suzhou pedicab drivers are notorious price-gougers, so bargain hard with these guys. Expect to pay a little more in the summer months since the driver is working hard in the heat to take you there.

Motorcycle taxis
Suzhou motorcycle taxis are found in the same places as pedicabs, and should be approached with similar caution. They are usually filthy, dangerously driven, and relentlessly uncomfortable (the seats are about 12 cm above the floor), so traumatic to your spine that it would usually be best to consider another form of transport.

See
Suzhou has a number of attractions, including at least two that are absolutely world-class: its famous classical Chinese gardens, and the Suzhou Museum designed by a world-renowned architect.

Suzhou's gardens and architecture have had influence worldwide. Suzhou Street in Beijing's Summer Palace is a copy of Suzhou's Shangtang Street, and the Chinese Garden Court in New York's Metropolitan Museum is a copy of part of the Master of the Nets garden. Both Vancouver's Sun-Yat-Sen Garden and Portland's Lan Su Chinese Garden were built by craftsmen imported from Suzhou.

Classical gardens
The UNESCO World Heritage List listing for Classical Gardens of Suzhou includes nine of the finest gardens, with dates from the 11th to the 19th century. They are:

For more details, see the Suzhou Tourist Bureau site, and each garden's Wikipedia page (linked above).

The four great gardens of Suzhou are four of those, each of which represents the gardening style of a different Chinese dynasty:
 * Humble Administrator, Song Dynasty (960-1279)
 * Lingering Garden, Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)
 * Great wave Pavilion, Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
 * Lion Grove Garden, Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)

Of course Suzhou has many other gardens as well. At one point there were over 200 classical gardens in the city, and the Chinese government lists 69 which survive today as protected heritage sites.

Large and famous gardens are fine, but smaller or less-known gardens can also be interesting; they can be good for a quick look or relaxing with a cup of tea in relative quiet. Often local folks are seen enjoying their tea and chatting. The small garden is a living part of the local, yet ancient, culture. Some of the other gardens are:

Museums

 * 苏州博物馆夜景.jpg

The Opera, Silk and Handicrafts museums are all right in the same area and can conveniently be visited together.

Other attractions
Some pagodas and towers are covered above since they are within temples. The others are here.

Buy
Shi Quan Jie is the main area downtown for tourist shopping, with everything from cheap tacky souvenirs and ¥10 allegedly silk ties to fine antiques, silks and jewellery. There are also many such stores around the Mystery Temple and along other back streets north of Guanqian Jie, and some near various tourist attractions. Guangqian Jie itself is mainly a general-purpose shopping street similar to what one might find in any city, but does have some upmarket shops for silks and other tourist items. The same could be said of shops in the SIP, most of which are concentrated in a few enormous malls.

As anywhere in China, bargaining is the norm. Since Suzhou is a domestic tourist destination, though, prices will start off at surprisingly reasonable values. As anywhere, help from a knowledgeable local can save you both hassle and money, but you should not accept "help" from unknown locals; that may just mean you get a higher price and the "helper" gets a commission.

As a city famed through the ages for its silk embroidery, Suzhou is one of the best places to pick up silk handicrafts. Suzhou double-sided embroidery, in which the same picture is rendered in great detail on both sides of a silk screen and the knots are tied in the middle, is a traditional Suzhou speciality and is absolutely amazing. The needles used for this work are finer than a human hair.

Much of lower-priced embroidery work sold to tourists is now made using sewing machines which provide embroidery stitches. The fine handwork is still available, and often at better prices in Suzhou than elsewhere, but it is not cheap.

The Embroidery Institute is a lively enterprise producing high quality work which you can see on a tour of the facility. The gift shop has prices a little higher than at the street stalls but they will bargain and the quality is much better.

Silk fans, musical instruments, paintings and calligraphy, lanterns, mahogany furniture and jade carvings are all made in the city and all readily available. Prices can be very good, though you generally have to bargain to get a good price.

Freshwater pearls – the Suzhou area is part of the largest freshwater pearl-producing region in the world. Pearls can be bought in every conceivable price and quality range, either singly or as strings or jewellery.

Sandalwood fans – folding fans made from thin ornately-stamped sheets of sandalwood- are another very old Suzhou craft and widely sold around the city. The scent of the breeze they generate while fanning is heavenly. Cheap versions are probably more mundane wood dipped in sandalwood oil, and will lose their scent rather quickly.

Tea is produced in Suzhou; the most famous locally produced green tea is called 'Biluochun'. Large shops with endless varieties of tea can be found all around the city, and some have seating where you will be encouraged to come sit and sample a pot. See China for background.

Snuff bottles are a long-standing Suzhou craft that remains popular today. Tiny glass bottles are delicately painted on the inside with elaborate and beautiful pictures. The best ones are truly incredible works of art.

Bicycles
For the resident expatriate or the traveller planning some bicycle touring, Suzhou is an excellent place to buy a bicycle. Bikes are common anywhere in China (see China), the flat terrain around Suzhou encourages their use, and several major makers of bikes and parts have factories in the area; Shimano and Giant are both in Kunshan.

The commonest bikes in China are still heavy and single speed, but a wide range are available, including multi-speed road bikes, mountain bikes with various suspension types, ultra-aerodynamic triathlon bikes and electric scooters. As anywhere in China there are many hole-in-the-wall bike shops, some of them surprisingly good, and most department stores carry bikes at prices from about ¥200.

In Suzhou, two popular choices for low-to-midrange bikes are: There are also stores specialising in more upmarket equipment, including Silver Storm (city branch on Shizi Jie, Canglang-qu; SIP Branch on Xinggui Jie, SIP), Specialized Bicycles (Harmony Plaza, Ganjiang Dong Lu, Pingjiang-qu, next to the China Merchants Bank) and Trek Cycles (Xincheng Dasha, Xiandai Dadao, SIP, behind the Starbucks).
 * The French sports store Decathlon has a branch in the SIP (Auchan Shopping Mall 1F, 55 Jinjihu Lu, SIP) with reasonable selection and prices. Staff speak a little English.
 * The aptly named Taiwanese company Giant has a large store in Suzhou. (1607 Renmin Lu, Pingjiang-qu) Prices are somewhat cheaper than in the west, making them a popular choice. Staff don't speak much English.

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).

Bars
Shiquan Street (十全街) is the main bar area downtown. Among the popular places are:

A number of the bars on this street (not the ones listed above) are thinly-veiled fronts for the world's oldest profession; numbers of very friendly young ladies sitting around the bar or standing in doorways to tempt in passers-by are easily recognized. Those wishing to avail themselves of such diversions are encouraged to exercise extreme caution, not overdo the drinking, ask the cost of everything (including the room you are taken to) before accepting it, and never pay anything in advance. Prostitution is illegal in China and disease rates among sex workers, while reportedly quite low, are definitely not zero.

Some of the better known bars of this sort (safer?) are the Moon Bar aka 'The Danish Embassy", known for its regular crowd of locals, the Blue Lady and the Red Lion - all within the block between FengHuangJie and Suzhou Hotel. All offer drinks without other services and they won't bother you if you are not partaking further! It is fairly common for groups of Suzhou expats, usually of mixed gender, to visit these places because they are open late and have cheap beer.

There are also a number of bars in the SIP, mostly along the lake:

Budget

 * Suzhou Blue Gate Youth Hostel,NO.259 Fenghuang Street, Gusu DistrictSuzhou, Jiangsu,+86 18151111680, From ¥3050.
 * Suzhou Blue Gate Youth Hostel,NO.259 Fenghuang Street, Gusu DistrictSuzhou, Jiangsu,+86 18151111680, From ¥3050.
 * Suzhou Blue Gate Youth Hostel,NO.259 Fenghuang Street, Gusu DistrictSuzhou, Jiangsu,+86 18151111680, From ¥3050.
 * Suzhou Blue Gate Youth Hostel,NO.259 Fenghuang Street, Gusu DistrictSuzhou, Jiangsu,+86 18151111680, From ¥3050.
 * Suzhou Blue Gate Youth Hostel,NO.259 Fenghuang Street, Gusu DistrictSuzhou, Jiangsu,+86 18151111680, From ¥3050.
 * Suzhou Blue Gate Youth Hostel,NO.259 Fenghuang Street, Gusu DistrictSuzhou, Jiangsu,+86 18151111680, From ¥3050.
 * Suzhou Blue Gate Youth Hostel,NO.259 Fenghuang Street, Gusu DistrictSuzhou, Jiangsu,+86 18151111680, From ¥3050.

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 ignore the latter part of the rule 'turn with caution' - it's all too common for cars, and more notoriously, trucks, to fly round an intersection too fast and unfortunately accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists are too common. Always keep an eye out in both directions when crossing the street.

Stay healthy

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.

Internet cafes
The biggest concentration of Internet cafes are along Moye Road just east of Shiquan Street. Most are about ¥2.50 per hour and have fast internet, headphones, webcam, etc., and also serve hot and cold drinks and sell cigarettes (smoking is permitted inside). Chinese customers will use their ID card to access the computer; foreigners should either bring their passport to register onto the computer, although if this facility is not provided the cashier will use his/her card to sign you in. However, police will occasionally check, in which case it may be harder for you to use.

Wi-Fi cafes
The large coffee chains like New Island Cafe, Starbucks and Costa Coffee all have several branches in Suzhou, all offering free Wi-Fi. Most of the other coffee shops in town have free Wi-Fi, certainly all the expat hangouts like the Bookworm.

Quite a few bars and restaurants, especially ones that cater to expats or well-off Chinese, offer free Wi-Fi as well.

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: See East China for some possibilities beyond the region.
 * 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

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 these tours are quite popular.

Another water town, Mudu, can easily be visited without taking a tour since it is the last stop going west on Metro Line 1. It is reportedly a bit shabby, not as pretty or developed as some of the others, but this may change now that it is more accessible.

See also our lists of water towns in East China and within Shanghai.

title: Suzhou


text:
Suzuka

Suzuka (鈴鹿) is a city in Mie.

Tourist information site
The local tourist association has a partly multilingual guide site.

Go next

 * Kameyama
 * Iga
 * Nabari
 * Yokkaichi
 * Tsu
 * Matsusaka
 * Komono
 * Inabe
 * Koka

title: Suzuka