December 31, 2016 to January 1, 2017. We went to Suzhou nearby to welcome the 2017 New Year. In addition to Xiyuan Temple and Lingering Garden in downtown Suzhou, this self-driving tour also visited Luxiang Village and Yangwan Village in Dongshan Town. These two ancient villages are both famous historical and cultural villages in China. Among them, Luxiang Village is the most popular ancient village along Taihu Lake. A total of 7.65 driving hours and 306.8 kilometers were driven throughout the trip, with an average fuel consumption of 6.1 liters/100 kilometers.

December 31, 2016(Weather in Suzhou: cloudy to sunny, 5 to 13 degrees)

At 11:55, we set off from our home in Pudong, Shanghai.

At 12:54, we arrived at Jiangqiao Toll Station of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway and traveled a total of 28.9 kilometers.

At 13:15, I arrived at Anting Toll Station on Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway. I traveled a total of 48.3 kilometers and charged 20 yuan for the highway.

At 13:37, I arrived at the Yangcheng Lake Service Area of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway to rest and traveled a total of 85.7 kilometers. The white car in the picture below is my new car, a 1.6-displacement turbocharged Citroen new C4L, hand-in-one, was produced and delivered on November 5, 2016, and sold for 150,800 yuan.

At 13:59, I arrived at the Suzhou Toll Station of the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway. I traveled a total of 99.4 kilometers and charged 25 yuan for the highway.

Xiyuan Temple Parking Lot. There are Yonghui Supermarket, Decathlon, KFC and other stores in the building next to the parking lot. Parking here and walking to the Lingering Garden.

Xiyuan Temple, a national key Buddhist temple in Han nationality areas, and a cultural relics protection unit in Jiangsu Province. Admission is 25 yuan.

Liuyuan is the first batch of national key cultural relics protection units announced by the State Council on March 4, 1961. It is an ancient building and is in the Qing Dynasty. Suzhou Lingering Garden, Suzhou Humble Administrator's Garden, Beijing Summer Palace, and Chengde Summer Resort are also known as China's four famous gardens. They are all among the first batch of national protection. There are only 180 national security sites in the first batch, including Tiananmen Square, Monument to the People's Heroes, Mogao Grottoes, etc. This shows the value of the Lingering Garden as a cultural relic. In 1997, Suzhou's classical gardens, including Humble Administrator's Garden and Lingering Garden, were listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites. Tickets for the Lingering Garden can be divided into peak season and low season. Among them, January, February, March, June, November and December are low season and the price is 45 yuan; the rest months are high season and the price is 55 yuan.

Vendors selling osmanthus cakes can often be seen on the streets of Suzhou.

Vendors selling osmanthus cakes can often be seen on the streets of Suzhou.

In the evening, a bowl of Lu Zhenxing's fried eel noodles costs 13 yuan. It feels very different from Zhu Hongxing's noodles. The toppings are not freshly fried.

Stayed at Jinjiang Inn Suzhou Mudu Ancient Town Hotel that night, standard room A, gold member 169 yuan. This hotel is located in the south of Mudu Ancient Town, relatively close to Dongshan and Xishan Scenic Areas. Huirun Jinfeng Neighborhood Center, where the hotel is located, is the first community-oriented shopping center in Wuzhong District, Suzhou City. It has hypermarkets, KFC and other catering facilities. This makes the hotel's shared parking lot very large. The surrounding area is a newly built residential area, and across the street is Vanke's property. It is very quiet late at night. However, before 9 p.m., the sales and hawking of Yanghe Daqu in front of the Huirun Jinfeng Neighborhood Center were noisy. What's even more bizarre is that several young people checked into the hotel at around 1 a.m. Not only did they talk loudly, but they also turned on the TV for nearly 10 minutes like a concert.

As of that night, a total of 3.32 hours of driving, 123 kilometers were driven, and the average fuel consumption was 6.2 liters/100 kilometers.

January 1, 2017(Weather in Suzhou: cloudy, 6 to 16 degrees)

Jinjiang Inn Suzhou Mudu Ancient Town Hotel.

Free parking is available in the parking lot of Huirun Jinfeng Neighborhood Center. The picture below shows the front face of C4L.

Luxiang Village, Dongshan Town, Wuzhong District is the third batch of famous Chinese historical and cultural villages to be evaluated. Tickets are 65 yuan.

Luxiang is the hometown of Wang Ao, a famous Ming Dynasty official. In recent years, the Wang Ao Memorial Hall has been renovated.

Luxiang is also the hometown of Ye Mengde, a minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, who has renovated his former residence. However, part of the former residence was "enclosed" for commercial operations and opened as a restaurant, so tourists were not allowed to enter and take photos.

I saw the old Citroen Elysee many times on the way. I had been driving this car for six and a half years.

Yangwan Village, Dongshan Town, Wuzhong District, Suzhou City, is the sixth batch of famous villages in China's history and culture. Yangwan Village is about 3 kilometers away from Luxiang Village. There are three ancient buildings in the village that are national security. The Xuanyuan Palace marked in the picture below is the sixth batch of national security guards, and Mingshan Hall is one of the three buildings in the sixth batch of national security guards Dongshan residential buildings. Dongshan residential buildings include Mingshan Hall, Huaiyin Hall and Ningde Hall, among which Huaiyin Hall is also located in Yangwan Village. However, neither Mingshan Hall nor Huaiyin Hall is open to the public at present.

Huaiyin Hall.

Mingshan Hall.

At 16:10, I arrived at Dongshan Toll Station of Shanghai-Changzhou Expressway and traveled a total of 191.3 kilometers.

At 16:53, I arrived at the Dianshan Lake Toll Station of the Shanghai-Changzhou Expressway. A total of 247.5 kilometers were traveled and the highway toll was 25 yuan.

At 17:22, I arrived at the Jiangqiao Toll Station of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway. I traveled a total of 277.0 kilometers and charged 20 yuan for the highway.

At 18:23, I returned to my home in Pudong, Shanghai. A total of 7.65 hours of driving throughout the journey, 306.8 kilometers were driven, and the average fuel consumption was 6.1 liters/100 kilometers.