Wuxi

Wuxi (无锡; Vu-sik in Wu, Wúxī in Mandarin) is an industrial city roughly halfway between Shanghai and Nanjing. With rich natural and cultural heritage, Wuxi is one of the top ten tourist cities in China. The typical features of the area is that of the regions of rivers and lakes. Wuxi occupies the most scenic part of Lake Tai and enjoys the beautiful scenery.



Understand
Wuxi has a history of over 3,000 years; its establishment can be traced back to the end of the Shang Dynasty.

There are hills, rivers and lakes in this area but most of it is flat and crisscrossed with canals and small rivers. It is a fertile area, the “land teeming with fish and rice”.

Wuxi is well-developed economically and has good transport connections. It covers an area of 4650 km². The city has a population of 7.5 million in 2020. Wuxi is bordered by water, with Lake Tai to the south and the Yangtse River to the north.

The cities of Jiangyin and Yixing are administered as part of Wuxi.

Climate
The climate is moist and temperate, sub-tropical with distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 15.5 ℃ There are 250 frostless days and the average rainfall is about 1,000 mm.

Get in
Suzhou is nearby, under half an hour by bus or car.

By plane
In Shanghai you can take the G-Train to Wuxi. The journey will be about 50 minutes and it costs ¥60 (Oct 2022).

Otherwise you can take the normal D-Train which takes about 60 minutes and cost ¥47 (Oct 2022).

If you get off from Nanjing Lukou Airport, you can take intercity bus or taxi.

By train


The Beijing-Shanghai railway, Shanghai-Nanjing high-speed railway passes through the center of the city, while the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway passes through the city on its east.

By road
Nine highways join Wuxi with important cities like Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou. The Shanghai-Nanjing expressway passes through the city. It takes about 3 hours by car to get from Wuxi to Shanghai's Pudong Airport.

By boat
There are also water routes to various places in the country via the Yangtze River, the Grand Canal and Lake Tai.

Talk
The local language is Wu Chinese, often known as Shanghainese (although the Wuxi dialect differs significantly from that of Shanghai). It is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin, though as Mandarin is the official language and medium of education in China, almost all locals will be bilingual in the local dialect and Mandarin.

As with virtually elsewhere in China, English is not widely spoken, though staff at expensive hotels will usually be able to speak basic English.

See

 * Xihui Park and Old Town (锡惠公园) — An old town pedestrian street with many souvenir and snack shops. Free but the individual residences cost extra (maybe ¥10 each). The main ticket is for several gardens and temples clustered together including the Garden of Ecstasy (Ji Chang Yuan) one of the leading gardens in SE China and Emperor Qianlong, who made seven visits, had a copy made of the garden at the Summer Palace in Beijing. The entrance ticket is also for the nearby park which is rather large if you spend the time to travel around the hill. You can pay extra for the cable car (might also be available as part of combined ticket) to get to the pagoda on the top of the hill. Xihui Park holds the Wuxi Flower - Rhododendron Festival exhibition from April to June every year. The opening ceremony of Wuxi Flower - Rhododendron Festival was held in Jiulongbi Square.
 * Lingshan (灵山) — The main attraction is Grand Buddha, one of China's largest Buddha statues at over 80 m tall. The whole Lingshan area is a tourist attraction built only in 2008 so there is no history to find here, with a musical fountain which plays out the story of the birth of the Buddha, as well as the Brahma palace (梵宫), a very grand palace with the pillars made of sandalwood, built to host the 2009 Buddhist conference. Entrance is ¥210 for a standard ticket excluding the electric buses. There is a show in one of the temples and you should get a free ticket when you buy the park fee (maybe not in peak season). It is only 20 minutes long and partly video thus not worth spending extra cash on if you did not get the ticket with your entrance ticket.
 * Lake Tai (太湖) — A very large lake with many scenic spots, famous for its fish and freshwater pearls. Nothing in particular to visit but Lingshan.
 * The Grand Canal is 1800 km long and travels from Beijing to Hangzhou. It is not really for sightseeing but it is there.
 * Yuantouzhu (鼋头渚) — It is a peninsula on the northwest coast of Taihu Lake. Because the boulder is surrounded by water on three sides, it is named "Yuantouzhu". Using the real mountains and waters, the garden is built to be three-pointed and seven-percent natural, making it the most ideal tourist attraction for viewing Taihu Lake.
 * Yuantouzhu (鼋头渚) — It is a peninsula on the northwest coast of Taihu Lake. Because the boulder is surrounded by water on three sides, it is named "Yuantouzhu". Using the real mountains and waters, the garden is built to be three-pointed and seven-percent natural, making it the most ideal tourist attraction for viewing Taihu Lake.

Do

 * Three Kingdoms City Water Margin Scenic Spot (三国城水浒城景区) It is a large-scale film and television shooting and tourism base, attracting a large number of tourists with its unique natural scenery, large-scale human landscape and complete film and television service functions. The ticket price is ¥90 for the Three Kingdoms City, ¥85 for the Water Margin City, and ¥150 for the Three Kingdoms City Water Margin combined ticket.

Buy
Wuxi is a city with a lot of shopping areas; It has a wide range of brands is available.

Eat
Traditional Wuxi food is very sweet and savoury. Local specialties include Wuxi-style xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) (小笼包 xiǎolóngbāo) which is sweeter than Shanghainese style, as well as Wuxi-style pork wonton (馄饨 húntūn). Wuxi-style braised spare rib (酱排骨 jiàng pái gǔ) is known throughout China; the pork ribs are braised in red sauce with star anise until they fall off the bones.

In some alleys there are different kinds of foods on a stick, it is very popular with the locals.

There is also a wide selection of western food.

Budget

 * Saizeriya, a Japanese chain of Italian restaurants where a decently-sized plate of pasta can be had for less than ¥20 and all-you-can-drink soft drinks available for an additional ¥7. Many kinds of pizza, pasta, soups, roasted chicken, lamb, fish, salads, seafood, seaweed, etc. Menus are available in English. Find it in two locations: Zhongshan Road No.328 in T12 Shopping Center and Guangrui Road No.399 in Lifespace.

Drink
There are numerous watering holes around Wuxi. While there are more expats to be found in some of them, you can expect a mix of locals in any pub or nightclub in Wuxi.



Sleep
Wuxi is home to a variety of accommodation catering to both foreign and local guests.