Jinji Lake — Attraction in Suzhou City

Just one word to completely describe the lake: Breathtaking! The lake is Huge! And it is very easily reachable by the subway. The stop for the lake is Dongfangzhimen (exit no 4). This is on line 1. On the station, you can see the sign (english text also available!) Lake is just outside the exit of the station. Coming back to lake, it is really huge. It occupies about 7 sq km (info from wiki). The view is amazing. You can just sit along the shore and keep looking at the beauty of the lake for hours! Though there are many things to do along the shore as well. There are couple of islands in this lake, which are reachable by ferry. Then there is theme park. There is small water sports area, children play area, walking track, cycling track. This is place, where you can go solo, go as couple, go with family or even go with friends.. Kind of a perfect getaway for...

We spent the whole day here at Jin Ji Lake. It’s not the biggest lake around but as a tourist attraction, it’s quite complete with boat rides, restaurants surrounding the lake shores, a Ferris wheel, boardwalks, etc.

Good place to walk and soak in the sun, enjoy the breeze and have a beer. In the evenings, they have live bands performing.

Pro Tip: Go and enjoy a free ferry ride across the lake. They run by the hour but limited seats so go earlier and queue. It takes you from Moon Light Pier to Dong Fang Zhi Men, the iconic building in Suzhou with an arch opening (see pics). Choose to spend the rest of the day wondering around the lake or visit Suzhou’s biggest mall...

There's a boardwalk around the lake, and there were hand prints of local celebrities and prominent figures of the arts and film industry along the fencing, as if replicating the Stars Avenue of Hong Kong.

Along this boardwalk, you'll get a good view of 大裤衩 (this building that looks like a pair of underpants) on one side and the Arts Center on the other. The night view of the buildings lit with changing lights is not bad but still a far cry from that of the Victoria Harbour or the Bund. Didn't help that the weather was so hot, even with the sun set, the breeze brings heated air. It was much better the next day after some rain (yes, we went back again for a walk...