Suzhou Museum
Suzhou Museum
4.5
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
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Address
Neighborhood: Pingjiang District
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146 within 6 miles
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
839 reviews
Excellent
443
Very good
277
Average
98
Poor
13
Terrible
8
thetankengine
Christchurch, New Zealand201 contributions
Jun 2024 • Solo
The architecture itself is interesting, and the museum collection is great—if you can view it in peace! The biggest problem with this place is that it's free! People with the WeChat app can book tickets in advance without paying anything. You might think this is a good thing—WRONG! Because it’s free, there are so many people, or IDIOTS I should say, coming into the museum dressed in traditional Chinese clothes just to pose for photos. They have no interest in the exhibits; they are more interested in being social media influencers by posting their stupid photos online! The consequence of this is that the whole museum is very noisy and feels like a market instead of a museum. When the museum first opened, it wasn't like this. It was crowded, but at least people came for the exhibits, not for photo ops. I strongly recommend the museum charge an entrance fee and make it over 100 RMB to deter people who shouldn’t be in the museum in the first place!
Written June 26, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Viator
Berkeley, CA6 contributions
Jan 2023 • Solo
I tried to visit this museum during my visit to Suzhou but they’ve moved to an all online WeChat ticketing system that you apparently need a Chinese national ID to access . I was sent to the visitor center where they then told me no tickets were available for the whole next week, despite that I could see people scanning the QR code and proceeding to enter the museum. Not foreigner friendly, probably should avoid.
Written January 27, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Zfy Ed
Singapore, Singapore10,719 contributions
Jun 2024 • Family
The Suzhou Museum is located on the west side of the Humble Administrator's Garden in Pingjiang District in Suzhou city center. It includes the new building that was opened in 2006 and the ancient building of the palace of King Zhong during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The entire museum resembles a small garden, besides the ancient buildings, there's the small lakes with greenery all over the place.
And in the new museum building, visitors will be able to see various artifacts such as pottery, jade, paintings and calligraphy from the ancient times to the modern times. And back in the palace of King Zhong, visitors can also see the beauty and elegance of the “Su-style painting”. And if you are into arts, paintings and calligraphy, you will surely like this place. And from here, it's a short walk to visit the Administrator's garden featuring the Jiangnan scenery and beauty and also the lion's forest with lots of sculptures.
It was crowded during our visit there and was told this was always the case and had to queue to get in. Unfortunately, my mobile battery went flat and so didn't manage to take more pics (though my friends did) as I could not find my powerbank which later found it in my another handcarry bag instead of my haversack!
And in the new museum building, visitors will be able to see various artifacts such as pottery, jade, paintings and calligraphy from the ancient times to the modern times. And back in the palace of King Zhong, visitors can also see the beauty and elegance of the “Su-style painting”. And if you are into arts, paintings and calligraphy, you will surely like this place. And from here, it's a short walk to visit the Administrator's garden featuring the Jiangnan scenery and beauty and also the lion's forest with lots of sculptures.
It was crowded during our visit there and was told this was always the case and had to queue to get in. Unfortunately, my mobile battery went flat and so didn't manage to take more pics (though my friends did) as I could not find my powerbank which later found it in my another handcarry bag instead of my haversack!
Written June 18, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
connieli32
Argegno, Italy114 contributions
Jul 2023 • Solo
You have to book a week ahead of time. There are no walk ins. You might find it difficult to book if you don’t have a WeChat account or Chinese payment methods. Staff told us either passports or Chinese ids would work. Free for people over 60, no tickets needed, just come with passport or Chinese id
Written July 26, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
swissfarmboy
Manila, Philippines41 contributions
Oct 2023 • Friends
The architecture is forgettable or a big let down if you came with expectations. The toilets a disaster considering how busy the place is. The lighting is downright terrible for a museum. What is on display simply disappears in dark, flat lighting. It was a waste of time.
Written October 22, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
acton28
Manchester, UK379 contributions
Oct 2020
Very impressive design of building with clear routes to see the many exhibition areas. Rather busy in golden week but quite pleasant. The external area at night is quite the backdrop.
Written October 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sue Lee
Singapore, Singapore3 contributions
May 2020
I've followed many I M Pei's design from other parts of the world. However, this is probably the most classic one showcasing the tradtional Chinese symbols. Be notice that it's also popular among Chinese tourists. Better to choose a weekday to visit.
Written May 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
wubbuwu
San Francisco, CA231 contributions
Just returned from China. While in Suzhou we visited the new, I.M. Pei designed Suzhou Museum. We were there 2 weeks after the Oct 8th grand opening. It's a small museum, easily toured in a couple hours. And it's a nice break from the beautiful gardens for which Suzhou is famous.
The exhibits are very nice, from cultural items to ancient art, to very modern pieces.
The bathrooms are excellent, and the museum shop is a gem. Prices are higher than the street, but they have an excellent selection of items you can be sure really are hand made. The quality is much better than any of the tourist area shops we saw. The shop staff are helpful and all English speaking. Only disappointment is that they don't yet have a book of the museum yet. But they say that will be coming soon.
The exhibits are very nice, from cultural items to ancient art, to very modern pieces.
The bathrooms are excellent, and the museum shop is a gem. Prices are higher than the street, but they have an excellent selection of items you can be sure really are hand made. The quality is much better than any of the tourist area shops we saw. The shop staff are helpful and all English speaking. Only disappointment is that they don't yet have a book of the museum yet. But they say that will be coming soon.
Written November 6, 2006
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
DALee8
Shanghai392 contributions
This Museum is a must-see attraction in Suzhou. First, it is a uniquely interesting building, combining traditional features and modern building concepts. The Architect, I M Pei, devoted special care and attention to this project as his forefathers had owned and lived in the nearby Lion Grove Garden. Second, it contains quite a range of interesting exhibits related to Suzhou's history and its artistic past. Visitors will not have to spend an undue amount of time to get a good look of all the displays. The Gift Shop has an attractive selection of souvenirs and art objects. A good buy is the Museum's own DVD which documents how the building was conceived by Pei and constructed under his firm's supervision.
Written November 7, 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SaileshSarmah
Tinsukia, India236 contributions
May 2013 • Friends
The Entry is Free - This is a drawing point as most of the attractions in Suzhou and China attracts an entry fee.
This is a really good small museum with quite a bit of interesting collections of Art, Relics & Artifacts of Ancient China.
There are two parts of the Museum - on is the modern building and the other is the old building. The modern building also houses a good collection of art & artifacts from personal collectors.
Overall it a must visit place if you are in Suzhou.
This is a really good small museum with quite a bit of interesting collections of Art, Relics & Artifacts of Ancient China.
There are two parts of the Museum - on is the modern building and the other is the old building. The modern building also houses a good collection of art & artifacts from personal collectors.
Overall it a must visit place if you are in Suzhou.
Written June 3, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
請問如果香港人去, 先要到官網注冊, 要先入電話號碼, 請問要輸入香港電話號碼的格式是怎樣的?我多次輸入也無效.
Written June 30, 2023
請問如果香港人去, 先要到官網注冊, 要先入電話號碼, 請問要輸入香港電話號碼的格式是怎樣的?我多次輸入也無效.
Written June 30, 2023
How do you book a reservation online? I tried to go yesterday morning and was told I needed to make a reservation, but I can't find any place online to do that. Anyone have a website?
Written August 29, 2019
I wanted to send you the web address but this site is not allowing any links in the answer... so just type "Suzhou Museum online booking site" in the Bing search engine... it will come up with the site in English!
Written September 2, 2019
Yes, it is closed on Monday, other days 9am-5pm, weekend usually kinda long queue to go in, free entrance.
Written June 26, 2016
geoffsobels
Inverell, Australia
I would like to know if your museum has a collection of ming and ching dynasty jades,as well as porcelains,etc.I am an avid collector of ching jades.
Written May 18, 2016
I didn't explore the galleries at all, rather I chose to explore the interior architecture and the veiws from the outside. I was rather museumed out and there wasn't enough time to do it all justice.
Written May 20, 2016
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