What's on in Suzhou, China through the year

Busy — Winter break (around Chinese New Year) in China, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Busy — Winter break (around Chinese New Year) in China

• Nature

  Plum blossom on Lake Tai

  15 Feb – 20 Mar · usuallyCherry blossom

  The orchards at Guangfu and out on the Dongshan peninsula flower before anything else does, which is why the Ming painters kept going there. Usually the first three weeks of March.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Plum blossom on Lake Tai (15 Feb – 20 Mar (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in April.

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in May.

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Meiyu, the plum rains

  15 Jun – 12 Jul · usuallyMonsoon

  A month of the front sitting on the lower Yangtze. It is what the gardens were designed for — covered walkways, rain on banana leaves, and almost nobody in them.

Busy — Summer break in China, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Meiyu, the plum rains (15 Jun – 12 Jul (usually))

Busy — Summer break in China, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Nature

  Osmanthus in flower

  20 Sep – 20 Oct · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  You smell it before you see it, for about three weeks, all over the old town. Lingering Garden and the Master of the Nets are the places it hangs heaviest.

• Season

  Hairy crab season

  25 Sep – 15 Dec · usuallyForaging season

  Yangcheng Lake is the name every restaurant in China claims in autumn, and this is the lake. Females first in October, males from November; the genuine ones are priced accordingly. Source ↗

Peak crowds — National Day Golden Week, National Day Golden Week in China

• Holiday

  National Day Golden Week

  1–7 OctCrowdedBook early

  The gardens run on daily caps and every one of them sells out for the whole week. If you are here anyway, do them at opening and spend the middle of the day on Pingjiang Road. Source ↗

Still on: Osmanthus in flower (20 Sep – 20 Oct (usually)), Hairy crab season (25 Sep – 15 Dec (usually))

Busy — Red maples at Tianping

• Nature

  Red maples at Tianping

  10 Nov – 5 Dec · usuallyAutumn colourCrowded

  Four hundred year old maples on the hill west of the city, peaking very late — the second half of November into December. Weekends are shoulder to shoulder on the path up.

Still on: Hairy crab season (25 Sep – 15 Dec (usually))

Busy — Red maples at Tianping, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Hairy crab season (25 Sep – 15 Dec (usually)), Red maples at Tianping (10 Nov – 5 Dec (usually))