Attraction · Suzhou Dushu Lake · Egret Park

Dushu Lake · Egret Park

Church-lawn sunset photo spot, Dushu Lake Library

Visitor info

Opening hours
All day
Ticket
Free

Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.

Church-lawn sunset photo spot, Dushu Lake Library. Egret Park on Dushu Lake takes its name from the flocks of egrets that roost here; its lawns are open and broad, and the gothic spire of the lakeside Dushu Lake Church points toward the water — at sunset, backlit silhouettes against the golden lake have made it the photographers' "most beautiful church shot in Suzhou," with wedding and portrait shoots queuing year-round. The church is not open to the public for services on weekdays, but the outdoor lawn and lakeside paths are accessible all day; Dushu Lake Library is built right by the water, and the lakeside loop track is the night-running home ground of industrial-park office workers and university students. The Dushu Lake Higher Education District rings the lake with a quiet, bookish air — a good, calmer "alternative lake view" beyond Jinji Lake, pairing with the nearby Moon Bay shopping street for a half-day trip.

Getting there: by bus / self-drive

Photos

Dushu Lake · Egret Park — photo 2Dushu Lake · Egret Park — photo 3Dushu Lake · Egret Park — photo 4

More in Suzhou

  • Humble Administrator's Garden

    Built in the fourth year of the Ming Zhengde reign (1509) by Wang Xianchen, with Wen Zhengming participating in the design, the 'Mother of Chinese Gardens' (a representative Jiangnan garden): Hall of Distant Fragrance / Little Flying Rainbow (Suzhou's only covered bridge) / 'With Whom Shall I Sit' Pavilion

  • Suzhou Museum (Main Building)

    I.M. Pei's final masterpiece (opened 2006), 'Chinese yet new, Suzhou yet new'; the sliced-rock hillside borrows the white wall of the Humble Administrator's Garden as its backdrop

  • Lion Grove Garden

    Built in 1342 (2nd year of the Yuan Zhizheng era) by Zen Master Tianru (Lion Grove Chan Temple); a labyrinth of Taihu Lake rockeries ('kingdom of rockeries', nine interweaving routes); Emperor Qianlong visited six times and inscribed 'True Delight'

  • Lingering Garden

    Xu Taishi built the East Garden in the Ming Wanli era; Liu Shu's Hanbi (Cold Green) Villa in the Qing dynasty

  • Master of the Nets Garden

    Site of Southern Song Shi Zhengzhi's Wanjuan Hall ('Fisherman's Retreat'); rebuilt in the Qianlong era of the Qing by Song Zongyuan as the 'Master of the Nets' (fisherman, his self-styled name)

  • Canglang Pavilion

    Built in 1045 (5th year of the Northern Song Qingli era) by Su Shunqin, Suzhou's oldest surviving garden ('scenery before you enter the gate' — double corridor with lattice windows); the famous couplet 'A clear breeze and bright moon are priceless' (assembled from lines by Ouyang Xiu and Su Shunqin)