Weekend Escape from Shanghai | One-Day Tour to Huishan Ancient Town & Nanchang Street in Wuxi

On the single day off on Saturday, I chose Wuxi. Without the season of cherry blossoms and migratory birds, a simple one-day tour is sufficient. 🍃Route: Huishan Ancient Town - Xin Wanxin Silver Thread Noodle House - Cultural Relics and Historic Sites Area (Jichang Garden, Huishan Temple, The Second Best Spring in the World) - Xihui Park (climb the mountain, cable car down) - Nanchang Street - Mao Hua Delicacies 📍9:30 Depart from Shanghai Drive for 2.5h, park at the Qingshanmen underground parking lot of Huishan Ancient Town (15 yuan/day). This gate leads to Xihui Park (admission fee required, you can buy a joint ticket for 60 yuan/person one day in advance), but our lunch destination is in Huishan Ancient Town (free of charge). If you're not driving, you can go directly to Huishan Ancient Town for a visit. 📍12:00 Xin Wanxin Silver Thread Noodle House There were 14 tables ahead of us when we took a number, but it was our turn very quickly. The silver thread noodles are slender and tempting, with red and white soups each having their own characteristics, very authentic Suzhou-style noodles. We ordered sweet and sour spare ribs, stir-fried shrimp loins, and fragrant dried marlan as toppings, which were delicate and tasty. We also ordered Wuxi small steamed buns, which are sweet, but the sweetness complements the savory taste. A bite of noodles followed by a bite of topping is incredibly satisfying. Curious about Huishan crispy cakes, they are full of sesame and so fragrant! 📍13:00 Cultural Relics and Historic Sites Area (Jichang Garden, The Second Best Spring in the World) I must say the ticket is very worthwhile because the garden scenery here is too beautiful. The greenery at the end of spring and beginning of summer is lush, the Jiangnan scenery that meets the eye, and the light and shadow reflected on the walls move with the lake water, serene and quiet. It's a more imposing garden than those in Suzhou, every step is a marvel, truly worthy of the place where Emperor Qianlong visited during his trips to the south of the Yangtze River. 📍15:30 Xihui Park It's more like a comprehensive park in the city, with amusement parks and boating. In search of Abing's tomb, we started the mountain climbing journey. The stairs were quite easy to climb, and it took about half an hour to reach the top where the cable car is. The staff were already calling out that the ticket sales would stop at 16:15, so we quickly took in the view of Wuxi city center and the distant Taihu Lake, bought a cable car ticket for going down the mountain (40 yuan/person for a one-way trip, 60 yuan/person for a round trip), took the cable car down the mountain, overlooking the scenery again, enjoying the comfortable breeze, very pleasant! 📍17:00 Nanchang Street A very long street with a variety of delicious snacks. The youzanzi at the entrance of the street smells so good, and there's a Teayan Yue Se in the middle of the street, the closest one to Shanghai. Maybe we ate too much at noon, we didn't have much desire. In the end, we had a bowl of tofu pudding, savory, very tender and smooth, really good. 📍18:30 Mao Hua Delicacies The monotonous delicacies of Nanchang Street did not satisfy my picky appetite, so we walked a bit further to eat at Mao Hua Delicacies, a must-eat in Wuxi. The signature dishes include Yulan Cake (sticky rice crust with sweet meatballs, so delicious! My favorite Wuxi food this time), hot and sour soup (Central Plains cuisine mixed into Jiangnan, with a slightly heavy taste), and mixed shepherd's purse pork wontons (classic sweet and savory taste). 📍19:30 Return trip, perfect.