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ChinaJiangsuTravel

Shantang Street – Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

by kumamonjeng January 2, 2020
written by kumamonjeng January 2, 2020
Shantang Street – Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

When you are in Suzhou, you can’t miss out on the old pedestrian street called Shantang Street and Pingjiang Road. Both are quite similar to old city narrow streets, boats ride in canals, street food, drinks, and souvenirs.

In case your time is limited, choose either one. Pingjiang Road is less commercialize and longer compared to Shantang Street where it has more lights and great vibes for tourists.  This post is about Shantang Street.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

How far is Shantang Street from Suzhou city?

Shantang Street is about 15 to 20 mins by taxi from Suzhou Guan Qian Shopping Street (Where we stay).  We took a taxi from our hotel and it didn’t cost a lot, pretty cheap.  It runs by meter so it is pretty safe.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Admission is Free

There are no admission fees and open all day long.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

A taste of Old Suzhou

Shantang Street is 360 meters long and it is a commercial and cultural street during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. If you want to see the old Suzhou, this is the place to come to experience.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

The Great Poet – Bai Juyi 白居易

You are also able to spot the famous poet Bai Juyi statue and a little memorial park dedicated to him in Shantang Street. Bai Juyi falls in love with Shantang Street when he visited Suzhou and called to repair roads and building bridges in this area. Hence it is no surprise to find Bai Juyi memorial park here.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

How long do you need?

3 hours at least or half a day.

Old Architectures

I am sure you will enjoy the old architectures here used for shops and restaurants.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Let’s explore things to do in Shantang Street!

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Boat Ride

The boat ride is one of the highlights here, the queue is long so be prepared to wait.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Hand-painted masterpiece

Hand-painted Chinese paintings can be spotted in Shantang Street.  You can witness the artist draws the Chinese painting in front of you.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Tonggui Bridge

There are several bridges in Shantang riverbanks and the most famous one is Tonggui Bridge, a single arch stone bridge.  This bridge contains an auspicious meaning “leading you to the riches and honor”

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Night View

Day and night views are totally different.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Watch Kunqu 崑曲 Opera or Pingtan 评弹

When you are in Suzhou, one of the cultural performance you needed to experience is Kunqu or Pingtan 评弹. Pingtan dates back to the Song dynasty and enjoys great popularity in the Jiangnan region. It is more like storytelling, joke-cracking, music playing and singing. We wanted to see Kunqu but it only started quite late so I choose to watch Pingtan. A man and a lady sitting in front of the stage and sings with Suzhou local dialect and play with the traditional instruments. Even if you don’t understand, you will still enjoy the vibes.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

If possible, do Kunqu Operas as it is originated from Suzhou, an old drama style of performance. Kunqu is over 600 years old and is reputed as the “ancestor of Chinese dramas” and the “mother of Chinese opera”. The ticket for Kunqu is also cost much more as the show takes longer, more than an hour. Kunqu is listed by the UNESCO in 2001 as the “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”.  I highly recommend anyone visit Suzhou to watch the original Kunqu Opera show.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

We had our dinner in Shantang Street, ordered stir-fried beef noodles and a hong Sao beef noodles soup.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘 Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Best time to visit

Go there before sunset is the best, that way you could check out both the day view and night view. The night view is certainly the highlight when all the lanterns are lit up. The whole area looks super spectacular in the evening!

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Chinese Alcohol

There are over 50 kinds of alcohol with different flavors in the traditional bottles. You are welcome to taste them for free and if you like it, you can order per pound.  The percentage of alcohol is quite high for Chinese alcohol.  I asked for the Chinese Rose wine also known as Mei Kuei Lu 玫瑰酒 in Chinese, highly aromatic!

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Giant Tang Bao

Giant Tang bao is so popular in Shanghai, we had them there and since it tastes so good, we ordered again here in Shantang Street Suzhou.  The price is the same as Shanghai, SGD 5.00 each.  First, you drink it with a straw, suck up the crab soup then eat the meat and the skin of the bun together.  Best is to dip with some ginger slice and vinegar.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Fairy Bean Cake 仙豆糕

It has many kinds of Fairy Bean cake sold in Shantang Street. You can choose and mix with them. The seller will fry the surface of the fairy bean cake so when you eat them are crispy and the filling is soft. The fillings are red bean, yum, cheese and many more.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘 Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Chicken Feet

Chicken feet are well like in China and you can’t miss this delicacy in Shantang.  There are several flavors to choose from, sweet flavor, hot flavor or pepper flavor.  The good thing is they will give you some plastic gloves to eat with the chicken feet and that way it won’t be too messy.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Coffee bar & Pub

Bar and pubs line up both sides of the river.  Pretty amazing atmosphere for couples.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Souvenirs shop

There are lots of shops selling interesting thing but I like the CCP souvenirs shop.  The bag with Mao’s face printed on it makes a good souvenir.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

Final thoughts:

If you are in Suzhou, Shantang Street is a must-visit.  The best time to visit is during the evening and check out the light-up of the lanterns along the canals.  Boat rides, snacks hunting and watching Kunqu opera or Pingtan performances are some of the things you can do in Shantang Street Suzhou.  This will give you some taste of old Suzhou.

Shantang Street - Memory of old Suzhou 苏州七里山塘

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11 comments

Lees Garcia January 2, 2020 - 9:41 pm

The food looks absolutely incredible! I also love your outfit girl! Great tour around the city!

Reply
ChelseaMamma January 3, 2020 - 9:30 am

It looks such a pretty place to visit with traditional buildings and lanterns hanging in the street

Reply
Catherine Santiago Jose January 3, 2020 - 10:50 am

There’s so many tourist spots! It’s very traditional and all streets are wonderful. There’s so many options to go!

Reply
Eileen M Loya January 3, 2020 - 12:46 pm

Lovely place to explore! I like the old houses. It looks like you traveled back in time! The food is fantastic too. I’d love to try the Giant Tang Bao.

Reply
Ashley R January 3, 2020 - 5:53 pm

The beef noodle soup looks so warm and hearty for winter right now and I love the Boat on the water at night. So nice!

Reply
Recovering Superwoman January 3, 2020 - 6:55 pm

I am living for this food! How fun! I just am dying to try one of those Giant Tang Baos!

Reply
IG:Suetanyamchorgh (@suetanyamchorgh) January 3, 2020 - 6:59 pm

The food looks great. Seems like such a lovely tourist spot. I would love to visit one day.

Reply
TheSuperMomLife January 4, 2020 - 2:04 am

What a beautiful place! I would love to go there just to try all of the food!

Reply
Jasmine - Blogging and Living January 4, 2020 - 8:21 am

It looks like it was an amazing experience. I would love to see the old architecture in person. It looks absolutely gorgeous. I’ll have to visit there soon.

Reply
Dan "Jay" Reyes January 4, 2020 - 3:10 pm

Cool tour of this place. I like the pictures, too. Thank you for sharing this post.

Reply
Myrah Duque January 4, 2020 - 3:47 pm

Shantang Street and Pingjiang Road look like a place where you can find anything! Loving the architecture and that it’s that too busy. The food looks so good.

Reply

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I am the travel writer for Thinkerten. I lived in Japan, Australia, Malaysia and now based in Singapore. Speak 4 languages, Japanese, English, Malay, and Chinese. There are the many types of travels one can experience and mine are mostly focus on self-driving/road trip to explore the places I wanted to see and learn about. Only if you get out of your country, you will see the real you and understand more about yourself, to realize of your own identity, your own culture, and your root.

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