A classical Chinese garden is a whole landscape squeezed into a courtyard: rocks stand in for mountains, ponds for lakes, and a winding covered walkway reveals one framed view after another, each window cut in a different shape. Suzhou, a canal city west of Shanghai, perfected the art over centuries, as scholars, officials and merchants built private retreats behind high white walls. Nine of its gardens are listed by UNESCO as the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, among them the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden and the tiny, exquisite Master-of-Nets Garden, and the Retreat and Reflection Garden in the water town of Tongli.
The point given here lies near Mudu, an old town on the western edge of Suzhou, close to the hills that rise towards Lake Tai. Mudu has its own historic gardens and canals, and the hills behind, such as Lingyan Shan, have temples and walks with views over the lake. Lake Tai is the source of the strange, eroded limestone rocks prized in Chinese gardens, and you will see them everywhere, full of holes and twisted shapes.
Suzhou is also famous for silk, embroidery so fine it looks painted, Biluochun green tea grown on the hills by the lake, and, in autumn, hairy crabs from the nearby Yangcheng Lake, a delicacy people travel across the country to eat.
Riding here requires preparation and realism. Foreign visitors generally cannot ride in China on a home licence, and arranging a temporary licence and permits for a motorbike is complex and often requires an organised tour. Many Chinese cities restrict or ban motorcycles in their centres, and expressways are generally closed to them. Electric scooters fill the streets, often silently and without lights, and traffic rules are interpreted creatively. If you do ride, the roads around Lake Tai and onto its peninsulas and islands are the most rewarding, with water views, tea terraces and orchards of loquat and bayberry.
The gardens are best visited early, as soon as they open, before tour groups arrive. Fuel, food and every service are easy to find in Suzhou. Try a bowl of Suzhou noodles in the morning, light and delicate, and a cup of Biluochun tea in a garden teahouse while rain falls on the pond.