DOTTED with dozens of classical gardens evoking landscapes of rocks, mountains and rivers, Suzhou is a perfect getaway for Shanghai day-trippers during the upcoming May Day holiday.

Suzhou is only an hour’s drive from Shanghai, or a 30-minute express train ride.

The small city in Jiangsu Province, known as the city of gardens, has carved out its kingdom in China’s tourism map. Since ancient times, it has been called “paradise on earth” for its gardens, water and architecture.

The eastern part of the city is famous for private (but open to the public) gardens, while the western area is more countryside, scattered with exquisite gardens.

Keeping to the essentials, Shanghai Daily recommends two tour routes, covering the best-known gardens — and a half-hidden one that many locals don’t know about — historic sites and natural landscapes in the eastern and western sectors.

Eastern tour:

The Zhuozheng Garden (The Humble Administrator’s Garden) — Suzhou Museum — the Lion Grove Garden — Ou Garden — Xiangmen Ancient City Wall — Folk Art and Culture Museum

The Zhuozheng Garden, also known as the Humble Administrator’s Garden, dates back more than 500 years and is one of China’s four famous gardens. The multicolored azaleas are in glorious bloom this spring.

The annual Azalea Festival runs through May 8 and features many rare varieties at the garden’s five main attractions. These include the Cloud-capped Peak (a rocky hill), the Maple Forest, the big lawn of the East Garden, the south lawn of Tianquan Pavilion and the crape myrtle forest.

There are around 12,000 pots of Belgian azalea, 450 pots of Mao azaleas and 12,500 pots of other flowers. For the May Day holiday, gardeners will add 1,200 pots of Mao azalea and 36,000 pots of other flowers.

During the festival, the Listen-to-the-Rain Pavilion will be turned to an old-fashioned study, evoking the daily life of a scholar in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Su Qinghua, the host of Guanzhi Hall culture salon, will perform tea ceremonies and share his Pu’er tea with visitors.

Visitors can learn to make rubbings from stone inscriptions, engraved by stone-carving master Chen Cunnan. They can watch craftsmen make a guqin, a zither-like, plucked instrument favored by ancient scholars. Performances will be given.

Another festival highlight is a VIP tailor-made garden tour. If you want to avoid the noisy crowds and get an exclusive tour, this is the tour for you. At 6:30am daily, before the garden opens, those who have booked VIP service (180 yuan per person) gather at the north gate. Only 16 VIPs are allowed per day. Follow the experienced guide, and then wander about. Tour in English is also available.

You can spend hours in the garden or choose a hearty Suzhou-style breakfast.

Address: 178 Dongbei St

Tickets: 50 yuan (October 31-April 15), 70 yuan (April 16-October 30)

Opening hours: 7:30am-5:30pm

Tel: 0512-6751-0286

Just a few steps from the Humble Administrator’s Garden is the Suzhou Museum. Designed by legendary architect I. M. Pei, the museum has a rich collection of paintings, calligraphy, porcelain, crafts, carved seals and relics of the Wu culture dating back more than 3,000 years.

Address: 204 Dongbei St

Admission: Free

Opening hours: 9am-5pm (Tuesday-Sunday, closed Monday except on holidays)

Tel: 0512-6757-5666

Not far from the Suzhou Museum is the Lion Forest Garden, so named for its many grotesquely shaped rocks, quite a few resembling lions. It covers just a hectare, but this exquisite garden has it all — meandering streams, lush trees, zigzagging corridors, beautiful pavilions and rocky hills.

Address: 23 Yuanlin Rd

Admission: 30 yuan (April 16-October 30), 20 yuan (October 31-April 15)

Opening hours: 7:30am-5:30pm (March 1-October 10), 7:30am-5pm (October 11-February 9)

Leaving the Lion Forest Garden, you take several turns and stroll down Pingjiang Road, an ancient road paved with cobblestones and flanked with traditional crafts workshops and snack shops and old brick buildings.

However, be careful not to miss the Couple’s Garden Retreat, which is hidden so deeply in a narrow lane off Pingjiang Road that even most Suzhou people don’t know of it.

It might be a bit difficult to find the garden yourself, but if you speak Chinese, you can ask a neighbor.

The garden in Xiaoxinqiao Lane is the city’s only garden surrounded by a moat and canal on three sides.

The character of “ou” in the Chinese name of the garden means couple, and this is a garden of love that Shen Bingcheng built in 1874 for his wife Yan Yonghua.

The biggest highlight of the garden is its “balance.” It was designed with west and east gardens. In the west garden, all stone windows are shaped like moons to symbolize females, while the windows in the west garden facing the sunrise are shaped like the sun, symbolizing males.

In the east garden, Shen built a spacious study for his wife Yan, which was rare, since studies were intended only for men. Yan was a talented painter and poet and the study was a gift to her from her husband.

On the southern side of the garden beside the moat is Tinglu Pavilion where Yan would sit by the window on the second floor to listen to the stream. When she heard oars breaking the surface, she knew her husband was returning from work.

Visitors can also see many calligraphy engravings, stone carvings and rocky hills in almost every corner of the garden.

This summer, the garden will launch a water tour on the canal, running along Pingjiang Road. It starts from the Humble Administrator’s Garden port, links with the Couple’s Garden Retreat and ends at the ancient city wall dating back more than 2,500 years.

Address: 6 Xiaoxinqiao Lane

Opening hours: 7:30am-5pm

Admission: 20 yuan (April 16-October 30), 15 yuan (October 31-April 15)

Western tour:

The Lingering Garden — Tiger Hill — Shantang Street — Maple Bridge Historic Site — Shihu Lake.

The Lingering Garden is a smaller recreation of the Humble Administrator’s Garden. The western part features rocky hills shaped like famous mountains. The central area features water and hills, while the eastern part is known for its architecture.

The biggest attraction is the Cloud-capped Peak, a huge natural stone from Taihu Lake, 6.5-meter high and more than a ton in weight. It has not been carved and is considered a national treasure.

Next to the Cloud Washing Pond, the stone is thin and tall with numerous wrinkles and holes, surrounded by a complex of buildings on the three sides.

Zhou Enlai, China’s first premier after 1949, once rested in the nearby kiosk to appreciate the stone during a visit to Suzhou in the early 1960s.

Address: 338 Liuyuan Rd

Opening hours: 7:30am-5pm (March 21-October 15), 7:30am-4:30pm (October 1-March 20)

Admission: 30 yuan (October 31-April 15), 40 yuan (April 16-October 30)

Further to the northwest is Tiger Hill scenic region now hosting a Spring Flower Festival through April 27. More than 60 varieties in 100,000 pots are on display, including azaleas, peony, tulips and hyacinths.

The western side of Duanliang Hall features bamboo handicrafts, while the western side of Shangshan Road exhibits old looms, spinning wheels and homespun clothes.

During the festival, visitors can enjoy the dance “White Cloud and Tea Fragrance” on the Sunwu Stage and learn how famous White Cloud Tea is made.

Local snacks and beverages are available at the visitor’s station in the western part of the hall. Flower seeds are on sale.

Address: No. 8 inside the hill gate, Tiger Hill.

Opening hours: 7:30am-5:30pm

Admission: 40 yuan (October 31-April 15), 60 yuan (April 16-October 30)

Not far from Tiger Hill is Shantang Street, which retains the authentic feeling of a traditional water town. Walking along the cobblestones, visitors see old houses and stone bridges crisscrossing the streams. The street dates back more than 1,100 years. Further west is Maple Bridge Historic Site, 3.5 km from the original old Suzhou City. It contains the famous Hanshan Temple, Maple Bridge and a moat that has been flowing for 3,000 years.