If you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, then never judge a town by its train station. After a blissfully short journey on a very packed train, the first sight to greet me in Suzhou was the rubble and cranes of a massive construction site opposite the station. Fortunately, this was no indication of what to expect from the rest of the place; the area I stayed in was a complete contrast to my initial scenery.

My hostel, Minghantang, was outside the centre of town, but had a beautiful traditional Chinese appearance. The surrounding buildings looked old fashioned too, with wooden frames and red lanterns hanging outside. A canal flowed between them and a few wooden barges bobbed on its water. It was night when I first went to explore the area though, so I looked forward to seeing this all in daylight. The next morning however, I was outraged to find it cost 45rmb to visit between 7am to 9pm. Not wishing to pay for something that was probably built for tourists anyway, I wandered in the opposite direction and ended up in the real old town.

Dotted along the busy, narrow streets were stalls selling pastries. I recommend trying a few for your breakfast; they were delicious. A selection of warm, freshly baked fairy cakes, red bean paste pancakes and sweet potato and sesame buns later and you’ll be set for a day’s sightseeing. They count as something cultural too, since Suzhou is known for its pastries.
Suzhou is also known for its silk, so I headed over to the Silk Museum next. It's much smaller than it appears and in this case, less is not more. The enormous weaving machines hold some novelty value, as do the silk worms in various stages of life, but for the most part there are a lot of replicas or pictures instead of real artefacts, which aren't very engaging.

For lunch I gave the renowned De Yue Lou restaurant a go, because I wanted to try some traditional Suzhou cuisine. Amongst other things, I chose Suzhou marinated duck and Suzhou glutinous cakes, because they had Suzhou in their names. The duck was unexpectedly cold but pleasantly sweet, and the glutinous cakes had a flavourless jam in the centre and were a little too chewy, but overall the meal was appetizing.

A stroll around one of Suzhou's many gardens is a good follow up to lunch. I chose to go to the daftly named Garden for Lingering In, which cost 70rmb. Unfortunately, it wasn't somewhere I could particularly see myself Lingering In. There's nothing striking about the garden; it has too many boulders concreted together and not enough natural beauty. Sure, Chinese gardens are pretty similar, but even the Yuyuan Gardens in Shanghai have more charm than these ones. Although, the bonsai section is a worth a look, to see the little trees and rocks that look like cliffs, as if someone has shrunk a normal-sized scenic area.

When I tried to head home, the traffic was heavy, buses seemed confusing and taxis were hard to find, but the countless rickshaws came to my rescue. They proved to be fun and a fairly quick method of transport – so long as you didn't have to go too far. The first time I thought I'd communicated where I wanted to go and had agreed a price, I just got dumped at the end of the road. The second time things worked out much better – it turned out the place I wanted to go was at the end of the road.

I think ultimately, if you have only one weekend to spare and have to choose between Hangzhou and Suzhou, both described as heaven on Earth, I would opt for Suzhou. Suzhou feels much smaller and the pretty parts are more spread out (in Hanghzhou it's all about West Lake), so a stroll around town has more to offer.

Need to go:

• The gardens in Suzhou, some of which have been around for nearly 1000 years, are one of the city's main draws. Most notable is the Garden of the Master of Nets, which is the smallest but probably the best. It has an impressive and aesthetically pleasing layout that gives the garden the illusion of being larger than it is. The Humble Administrator's Garden, which is a lot bigger and more like a park, is also worth a look. Both gardens are World Heritage sites and it is recommended that you visit them early to avoid the flagpole-toting tour groups. Expect to pay between 20-80rmb, depending on which garden you go to.
• The Silk Museum. Learn the history of silk-making in Suzhou over the last 4000 years, admire some ancient outfits and check out the live silk worms in different stages of life. Couple it with a visit to the Silk Embroidery Institute to see the finest embroidery in the world, or take a trip down Shi Quan Street, to get hold of some modern-day silk.
• The North Pagoda is the tallest pagoda south of the Yangzi and at nine stories high it offers a nice view of the city.
• Further out of town but still worth a visit are Tiger Hill and Hangshen Temple, also known as Cold Mountain Temple.

What to eat and where:

Most meals will exemplify how Suzhou food has a unique, sweet flavour and tends to be colourful, with plenty of seafood provided by nearby Taihu Lake. It is customary in Suzhou to eat different food according to the seasons. In spring you can find Biluo Xiaren (fried shrimp with biluochun tea) whilst in summer Xigua Ji (chicken wrapped in watermelon rind and steamed) is more common. By autumn it's time to enjoy steamed crabs and Bafei Soup. The ultimate Suzhou dish however is Songshu Guiyu (mandarin fish, stewed and fried) because it was praised by Emperor Qianlong. You can try these local delicacies at De Yue Lou on Taijian Nong, open 11am-2pm/5pm-9pm) or Pine and Crane Restaurant on Guan Qian Jie (open 11am-1:30pm/5pm-8:30pm).

Snacks such as pastries are also eaten according to season. Spring sees the arrival of scones with sweet fermented rice while in autumn moon cakes stuffed with fresh meat are widely available. The best place to find the latest selection is at Cai Zhi Zhai, Dong Jiao Men (open 8:30am-9pm Monday to Thursday and 8:30am-10pm on Friday and Saturday).

Nightlife:

• Traditional performances of Kun opera, Pingtan (a form of storytelling and ballad singing in Suzhou dialect) with Guzheng (a Chinese zither with 25 strings) can be found in the Garden of Master of Nets. Some take place outside and others occur in pavilions. Entrance costs 60-80RMB and performances take place from 7:30pm-10pm between mid-March and mid-November. A stroll through the adjacent night market can be a nice way to round off the evening too.
• Shi Quan Jie is the bar street, if cultural shows aren't your thing! Popular bars include Harry's Bar, which has live music six nights a week, and the Pulp Fiction Bar. Suzhou has one club, called Club 1.

Final thought:

Timing your trip to Suzhou so that it coincides with a festival can make your time there even more enjoyable. Perhaps the most notable festival is Ya Shenxian, which falls on April 14th in the Chinese lunar calendar, supposedly the birthday of Lv Dongbin, one of the Eight Immortals in Chinese Taoist mythology. To celebrate his birthday, Lv Dongbin is reputed to return to Suzhou disguised as a human, spreading happiness and prosperity. To receive more luck, people crowd the streets in celebration and enjoy a temple fair with various handicrafts, plants, animals and local snacks. Other festivals occur in March, May, September, October and November.
...and whilst you're out and about, why not consider going to nearby Tongli for a day trip?