Suzhou | Stay in a 200-year-old ancient Jiangnan mansion on Pingjiang Road.

Usually, when I go to Suzhou, I go there and back in one day, until this Yihe Songmaoju opened on Pingjiang Road. The predecessor of this old building was the former residence of Mrs. Wang, the wife of Pan Zuyin, a Suzhou family. It was built in the tenth year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1745) and has a history of more than 200 years. Speaking of Pan Zuyin, many foreign tourists may not be familiar with it, but if you mention the famous national treasures, the big Ke Ding and the big Yu Ding, I believe everyone knows that these two bronze national treasures were originally collected by Pan Zuyin and later donated to the Shanghai Museum by his descendants. Yihe Songmaoju has only 27 rooms. The ancient Jiangnan mansion is almost different in every room, and some even have their own courtyards. Black pine, banana, Taihu stone, pen, ink, paper and inkstone, landscape screen, every detail reveals the elegant late Qing classical aesthetics. Walking out of Songmaoju is Pingjiang Road. The morning Pingjiang Road has less hustle and bustle, and more tranquility of the Jiangnan water town, small bridges and flowing water, the morning glory protruding from the eaves, the old man who goes out to buy vegetables on the stone road... This is the true appearance of Pingjiang Road. The route of the "Searching for Song, Searching for Qing" cultural City Walk is to walk from Songmaoju to Ouyuan, and the end of Cang Street can go to Shuangta. The exquisite and exquisite Ouyuan has a romance exclusive to Suzhou people; Suzhou Shuangta has two brick towers built in the Northern Song Dynasty in 982 and the ruins of the main hall of the Song Dynasty. The exquisite stone carvings on the stone pillars are still vivid. If you are a cultural enthusiast like me, Yihe Songmaoju on Pingjiang Road will be the starting point for this "Searching for Song, Searching for Qing" journey.