Suzhou is renowned for its classical gardens, and among them, the Humble Administrator's Garden (Zhuōzhèngyuán) holds the highest status. You may not have heard of other gardens, but you’ve definitely heard of this one. If you're short on time and can only visit one garden in Suzhou, this is the one you must see.
However, it’s not the best garden to visit first. It’s actually more suitable to visit last. If you have enough time in Suzhou and are interested in garden landscaping, it’s better to explore the smaller gardens first. Otherwise, after seeing the Humble Administrator's Garden, you might lose interest in the others—it encompasses nearly all the essential elements of traditional Chinese gardens, essentially serving as a refined collection of the best features.
These days, there’s no difference in the crowd levels between weekdays and weekends—it’s always packed. This is probably my third visit to the Humble Administrator’s Garden. The first two times I came, there were far fewer tourists. You could take photos freely without needing help or waiting. Now it’s extremely difficult to take any pictures without crowds in the background, especially in the popular photo spots—it’s nearly impossible.
All tickets are now scanned digitally, whether purchased online (via mobile QR codes) or at the counter.
The garden itself is vast. You can spend quite a bit of time walking through it, but the current experience isn’t great. It’s hard to enjoy lingering in one place for too long, so most people just keep walking. It feels more like a "check-it-off-the-list" visit rather than something to study in depth.
From one spot inside the garden, you can see a pagoda in the distance—that’s the Tiger Hill Pagoda. Many visitors take photos from this location.
By the way, the Humble Administrator's Garden also offers night tours. These tend to be less crowded than during the day and give you a different kind of experience—walking through the garden at night. I once imagined what it would be like to stay there overnight in the past—without electricity, with complete darkness, relying only on candlelight. That sounds terrifying. You’d probably go to bed super early because staying up late wouldn’t make sense. You wouldn’t even dare step outside the room—too spooky, and there’d be nothing to do. The entrance gate is quite far away too.
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