Part of the draw is the city’s close affinity with water, where you can do an early morning stroll around the vast Lake Taihu or take a cruise down the Grand Canal.
But Wuxi’s star attraction is its flower blossoms. Every year, hordes of tourists descend upon the city to catch a glimpse of its famed cherry blossoms, along with verdant lotus blooms, plum blossoms, peach blossoms, lush bamboo groves and even gorgeous lavender fields.
Wuxi shares a surprising number of similarities with Singapore. Locals and residents tell me that Wuxi is a clean, affluent, relatively smaller city that is centrally located which makes it easy to travel around Jiangsu.
Wuxi may not be one of Singaporeans’ top choices now, but you can be sure that it’s only a matter of time before more people catch wind of it.
1. CHASE THE CHERRY BLOSSOMS AT TURTLE HEAD ISLAND
When it comes to catching cherry blossoms, the first place that immediately comes to mind would be Japan, Korea and Taiwan. But Wuxi still remains a secret, to Singaporeans at least. The best place to view the cherry blossoms is at Yuantouzhu (Turtle Head Island), a peninsular situated at the northwest side of Taihu Lake, the third-largest freshwater lake in China. It gets the name for its huge rocks protruding into the lake, appearing as if a swimming turtle tossing its head.
