We went on a self-driving tour for three days during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday. Since I have been to basically all the scenic spots around Shanghai, this trip did not focus on visiting scenic spots, but spent more time resting in the hotel. This trip originally planned to go directly to Wuxi, but due to serious traffic jams on the Suzhou-Wuxi section of the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway, we changed to accommodation in Zhangjiagang on the first day. The picture below shows the Qingmingqiao Historical District in Wuxi.

September 13, 2019 (Zhangjiagang weather: sunny to cloudy, 22 to 30 degrees)

At 10:31, we set off from our home in Pudong, Shanghai.

At 11:30, we arrived at Yuepu Toll Station of Shanghai Ring Expressway and traveled a total of 29.1 kilometers.

At 11:57, I arrived at the Zhuqiao Toll Station of Shenyang-Haiyang Expressway. I traveled a total of 57.7 kilometers and charged 23.75 yuan for the highway.

At 12:07, we arrived at the Taicang main line toll station of Shenyang-Haiyang Expressway and traveled a total of 69 kilometers.

At 12:18, I arrived at the Shaxi Service Area of Shenyang-Haiyang Expressway to rest and drove a total of 84.8 kilometers.

At 13:07, I arrived at the Luyuan Toll Station of Tongxi Expressway. A total of 141.4 kilometers were traveled and the highway toll was 33.25 yuan.

At 13:15, I arrived at Sinopec Zhangjiagang Zhangyang Highway Gas Station. I drove a total of 146.3 kilometers, adding 300 yuan for No. 95 oil, and 7.03 yuan/liter.

Stay at Zhangjiagang International Trade Hotel, a five-star executive double room in Crown Building, 402 yuan (including double breakfast). The hotel has two buildings: a business building and a crown building. Among them, the crown building is located between the business building and the residential building. It is very quiet, with large rooms and wider beds (1.35 meters). The hotel has ample parking spaces and air purifiers in the rooms. The bathtub is very big. If you take a bath, you can soak almost your entire body in the water.

This is Crown Tower.

Newspaper in room

Welcome fruits.

Air purifier.

The room we stayed in on the 4th floor faced the residential area.

Zhangjiagang is a county-level city under Suzhou. It has stores for Soviet-style noodle restaurants such as Dongwu Noodle Restaurant and Zhu Hongxing. Unfortunately, we arrived at Dongwu Noodle Restaurant around 2 o'clock, and the store was just in time for afternoon break.

Across the street from this Dongwu noodle restaurant is Zhangjiagang Huafang Jinling International Hotel, a listed five-star hotel managed by Jinling Hotel.

In the evening, we had a buffet at Zhangjiagang International Trade Hotel. The price was cheap. The discount was 104 yuan for in-house guests. However, the buffet is what you get for the price. There is a clear gap between the buffet of this store and the buffet of big-name five-star hotels in Shanghai.

The hotel's service is very considerate, with welcome fruits at the entrance and white fungus soup at night.

On the moonlit night of August 15th.

As of that night, a total of 151 kilometers had been driven, with an average fuel consumption of 6.9 liters/100 kilometers.

September 14, 2019 (Wuxi weather: sunny to cloudy, 24 to 32 degrees)

Buffet breakfast at Zhangjiagang International Trade Hotel. If you add it earlier, it will be 68 yuan/person. But I feel that it is not as good as the buffet breakfast at the also five-star Yukun International Trade Hotel in Changshu, which only costs 50 yuan per person for breakfast.

mooncakes.

The cake is not bad.

There is a supermarket on the ground floor of the hotel's business building.

There are also many restaurants on the ground floor.

This five-star hotel also delivers large bags.

At 11:39, we arrived at Luyuan Toll Station of Tongxi Expressway and drove a total of 160.3 kilometers.

At 11:58, we arrived at the Wanshandang Toll Station of Tongxi Expressway and traveled a total of 193.3 kilometers.

No tickets are charged in the ancient town of Xuntang in Wuxi. The relatively small scale is probably one of the reasons why Xuntang Ancient Town is not popular.

Stay at Nikko Hotel Wuxi, which is listed as a five-star hotel and has a special price for a superior twin room for 572 yuan (excluding breakfast). This is a hotel managed by Okura Nikko. The hotel has an excellent location, across the street from the Qingmingqiao Historical District, the entrance of Nanchang Street. It is only more than 500 meters away from Nanchan Temple, and it is next to Yangchun Lane with the style of the Republic of China. The hotel has a two-story underground garage with abundant parking spaces. The special premium twin room is small in size but also has a bathtub. The bathroom has a stereo connected to TV programs, so you can watch TV through the floor-to-ceiling glass window while taking a bath.

Hotel underground garage.

Hotel lobby.

The reverse side of the room card. The JAL Hotel was founded in 1970 by Japan Airlines.

Photography of the historic district across the street from the hotel's 7th floor room.

Along the ancient canal.

It is known as the "Jiangnan Water Lane".

There are 2 Xishengyuan stores around the hotel. Xishengyuan's Wuxi Xiaolong is more delicious than the time-honored brand Wang Xingji.

Kaiyang wonton.

It feels very cordial to see an old Citroen Elysee on the street. From May 2010 to November 2016, I drove this car.

Qingmingqiao Historical District is the second batch of famous historical and cultural streets in China to be evaluated. Qingmingqiao is a national key cultural relic protection unit. There are many delicious food on Nanchang Street, which young people like very much and are very popular at night.

Please have a cup of "1 point" milk tea and wait for about 10 minutes.

Qingming Bridge. Originally called Qingning Bridge, it flew across both sides of the canal. On the south side of Qingming Bridge is the Bodu River, which flows through Meicun to Changshu. Qingming Bridge is a single-hole stone arch bridge with a length of 43.2 meters, a width of 5.5 meters, and a height of 8.5 meters. The bridge spans 13.1 meters. It is made of granite. During the Daoguang years, Suining was renamed Qingmingqiao because of the name of Emperor Daoguang.

Night view of Nikko Hotel Wuxi and Ancient Canal Bridge.

There is a Wuxi Internet celebrity noodle restaurant on Nanchang Street.

At around 10 o'clock in the evening, we visited Nanchang Street again, but the street was still bustling.

As of that night, a total of 237 kilometers had been driven, with an average fuel consumption of 7.2 liters/100 kilometers.

September 15, 2019 (Wuxi weather: cloudy, 22 to 30 degrees)

Nanchan Temple does not accept tickets. It was built during the Taiqing period of Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty. It is large-scale and the famous temple in the Southern Dynasties is unmatched. It is known as "the most beautiful jungle in Jiangnan."

Exit the side door of Nikko Hotel Wuxi is Yangchun Lane.

At 13:55, I arrived at the Shuofang Airport toll station of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway and traveled a total of 256.9 kilometers.

At 14:32, we arrived at the Yangcheng Lake Service Area of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway and traveled a total of 298.5 kilometers. The renovated Yangcheng Lake Service Area has a classical garden, making it the most beautiful expressway service area in the Yangtze River Delta.

At 15:28, I arrived at Huaqiao Toll Station of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway. A total of 336.2 kilometers were traveled and the highway toll was 33.25 yuan.

At 15:45, I arrived at the Jiangqiao Toll Station of Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway. I traveled a total of 358.5 kilometers and charged 14.25 yuan for the highway.

At 17:06, I returned to my home in Pudong, Shanghai. I drove a total of 389.6 kilometers, with an average fuel consumption of 7.0 liters/100 kilometers.