LosAngeles5967
01 Dec 2018
We spent an incredible day with Sunny last week touring Suzhou and Tongli Water Town. Suzhou was our final stop on our China trip, and we came to see the gardens and the local water towns.
November is a wonderful time to travel to China, as the weather cool and crisp, and the crowds are low. Sunny was very communicative in setting up our trip, and arrived to our hotel early for our tour. Her English is perfect, and she is positive and extremely knowledgeable about the history and the local culture. She took care of everything, and had our driver waiting to take us to our first stop The Humble Gardens. The gardens, one of the top 4 gardens in China is not to be missed! Sunny told us details all through out the gardens, and gave us the history and cultural facts. She also stopped at many places to take our photos, and emailed us them after the tour, which I found to be very thoughtful. Plus she is an excellent photographer, and knew the best places to get photos!
We then made another stop at another garden, the Master of Nets. I had found a contemporary art gallery called True Colors, that was on the way to Tongli, and Sunny said no problem, and took us there! If you love contemporary art and architecture, this private museum is not to be missed. I found it on trip advisor, and it was a highlight, as I love contemporary art. Sunny shared in discovering this museum with us, it's a very large museum three floors, and in the middle of nowhere. So happy Sunny took us there, as it would have been hard to get there by subway, although it is possible!
We were then off to Tongli, with Sunny and our private driver. The car was always stocked with bottled water for us to enjoy, which was so nice. Got to stay hydrated! Tongli exceeded our expectations, a small quaint water tower, bridges and small water canals everywhere. Since it was November, the crowds were very low. Sunny took us to her favorite lunch time restaurant, but because we took too much time at the True Colors Gallery, the chef had already left for the day. But Sunny asked the owner, and the chef came back to make us a delicious lunch. It was these small details that made you feel like you are hanging out with a local! Btw, get the slow cooked pork at this restaurant, it is incredible, and local dish. The meat falls off the bone, and the owner of this tiny restaurant is proud of her food, it shows in the details.
On the way back to Suzhou, we mentioned to Sunny that we wanted to get a massage, so instead of dropping us at our hotel, they dropped us in the city center a block away from the massage place. It's China, don't forget the incredible massages!!
Sunny is a 5 out of 5 tour guide. She is funny, knowledgeable about history, smart, and just fun to hang out with. I can see that she would be great with many different types of clients, and next time we are in Shanghai we will most definitely take another tour.
If you are traveling to Suzhou and Tongli, you are in for a great trip. We could not recommend these towns enough. We stayed in Suzhou for 4 nights at Little Folk House Hotel, and loved every minute of it. Suzhou is a great town to explore, so many amazing shops, an Tongli exceeded our expectations as a very small water town.
Thank you again Sunny!!!