Suzhou is well-known for the Oriental Water City, but not many tourists know there are some mountains around Suzhou. Qionglong Mountain/穹隆山 is the highest one.

Qionglong Mountain is one of national forests of China, so many local people come here to embrace the nature, take deep breath in the fresh air, climb it to build their bodies.

Qionglong mountain is the right place, where Sunwu wrote the famous military book called the Art of the War/孙子兵法.

Sunwu was the world-famous militarist and the Art of the War has a big and deep influence on the development of the world military until now.

Qianlong emperor would climb Qionglong mountain if only he came to Suzhou in Qing Dynasty. There were a lot of stories relating to royal culture, for example, one magnolia tree was planted by one emperor 200 plus years ago in Qing Dynasty.

Shangzhen Taoist Temple/上真观 was also permitted to be built by the emperor in Qing Dynasty, so the buildings were all decorated in red, which was usually the royal color in old times.

Some leisure facilities are built around the northern foot of the mountain including cafe, hostelry and restaurant.

The following boat is actually the hostelry with 4 guestrooms.

Recommended itinerary of two days tour :

Arrive at the mountain in the morning of the first day, go hiking to the summit along the royal pathway, where emperor Qianlong had walked, visit Shangzhen Taoist Temple and Sunwu Former Residence. Have a sweet sleep at house boat overnight to enjoy the tranquility of the countryside and try a leisure life such as walking aound the lake or have a coffee drink in the following day.