Tongli Ancient Town — Local services in Suzhou City

A great place to visit as it has over a thousand years of history, and is definitely not as crowded as the other watertowns like Zhou Zhuang in the area. We went on a Wednesday morning.

There are souvenir shops, of course, and modern cafes, but this town is essentially still lived in by laround 55,000 ocals, so you can see how they live daily lives. They are quite friendly and happy to chat. There are also 7 points of interests, including the tower in the gardens, as well as an old orchestra that plays tradtional music.

Getting here was easy - we took the Metro line 4 all the way to the end from Suzhou, and the journey took about an hour. There is then an electric tram that is currently free as it is on trial - you do need to use your Shanghai/Suzhou metro card to tap in and out though.

Entry tickets to the town costs 100 rmb each, which you can buy at the tourist office.

The town is charming and you can wander around on your own, or hire one of the rickshaws to bring you around for around 15 minutes. Do also make time to go for a boat ride on the lovely canals to see the bridges from a different perspective, which also takes 15 minutes and costs 150 rmb for a maximum of 6 passengers. Look out for the boat with the cormorants, which are...

Visited in Apr. This is the perfect relaxing water town to explore leisurely - beautiful, serene, retains a sense of authenticity, lively yet not overwhelmingly crowded (unlike Suzhou’s famous waterside streets which are so crowded it’s impossible to enjoy). Tongli Town is compact and extremely conducive for exploration on foot.

Allocated a full day for day trip from Shanghai. Explore and soak in the atmosphere leisurely (rather than squeezing in whirlwind stop) especially for families with small kids. Took an excellent boat ride, explored a old buildings/gardens, the famous bridges and take a simple but relaxing, pleasant lunch stop at one of the canal side restaurants to sample local cuisine and chat with friendly locals. Lots of quaint coffee shops around town.

Ticket buying at tourist centre was quick and hassle free (free for seniors and kids below 1.4m) - tickets for accessing buildings / gardens.

25 min boat ride recommended - clean, well maintained boats, relaxing and nice way to...

An old water town with many residents. It is very quiet and peaceful after 8pm and before 9am. Nice to watch the locals’ way of life by the river.

Ticket price is RMB100 if you were to enter between 8am and 5.15pm. The ticket allows for visits to several attractions in Tongli. Take a train via Line 4 to Tongli MRT and exit via 9 and 10 to catch a free tram to this water town. Tram operates from 7am to 7.15pm. Takes approximately 15min to reach the Tongli Ancient Town North Entrance.

We stayed in the water town for 4 nights. Though it takes approx 1hr train ride to town, we love the slow pace here. The water town preserves its original building structure and hence the accommodations may be old. There are many accommodations within walking distance of the water town which have...