Suzhou Tourism & Transport – Best Way to Learn Mandarin with Suzhou Subway and Bus

Suzhou (苏州) is a beautiful city located in the Jiangsu province of China. There is a lot to write about this city, and in this post I will share details about the Suzhou public transportation system, mostly about the bus and subway systems. You’ll also get to know a funny and probably the best way to learn Mandarin. I’m also including a basic list of Mandarin words that are extensively used by Suzhou tourism (and elsewhere in China). 🙂

Suzhou Bus Number 16 reaching a local bus stop.
Suzhou Bus Number 16 reaching a local bus stop.

Related post – Living in Suzhou.

Best way to learn Mandarin

The best way to learn Mandarin is to live in China and immerse yourself in the Chinese language learning. I have prepared a list of public transportation related Mandarin terms for you to learn the Chinese language. These terms are extensively used by Suzhou Public Transportation System. Please refer to the last section of the article.

Hanlin Neighborhood Center (翰林邻里中心 : Hanlin Linli Zhongxin) – a typical Suzhou bus stop.
Hanlin Neighborhood Center (翰林邻里中心 : Hanlin Linli Zhongxin) – a typical Suzhou bus stop.

Buy Suzhou bus/subway smart card

The Bus/Subway smart card in Mandarin its known as known Suzhou-tong (苏州通). You can easily buy the card at the Suzhou subway stations using the vending machine.

Ask someone for help if you don’t know how to buy it. The initial cost is RMB 36, and you don’t get any stored value for this price. You’ll need to top up the Suzhou-tong card for further usage.

Please note that 1USD = ~ RMB 6.9.

Xinghu Jie Subway Station – the metro stations in Suzhou are very clean and safe.
Xinghu Jie Subway Station – the metro stations in Suzhou are very clean and safe.

Understand Suzhou Bus fares

The bus fares in Suzhou vary from month to month. It’s interesting to know that in the month of November, when its autumn, the Air-conditioners are switched off, and so the fares are low (RMB 1). In January, its winter and the Air-conditioners are on, so the fare is higher (RMB 2). These fares are fixed irrespective of how many stops you may prefer to go. If you pay fares using the Suzhou-tong card, you get a 40% discount. So in November you’d pay RMB 0.6, and in January its RMB 1.4.

Related post- How to Buy a Chinese Card to Visit Suzhou China Garden for Free.

Clean and safe Suzhou road - just outside the Xinghu Jie subway station.
Clean and safe Suzhou road – just outside the Xinghu Jie subway station.

Suzhou Subway fares

The fare for a Suzhou subway ride is calculated based on the distance you travel. However, for RMB 4 you could virtually cover some 15-20 stations. If you pay the fare by Suzhou-tong card, you get a 5% discount on your total fare.

Related post- Suzhou Industrial Park – a Flower Garden in Suzhou China.

The bus and subway fares are not linked (unlike in Singapore), and you’d pay each time you get into the bus/subway.

Bus numbers displayed at the Hanlin Neighborhood Center bus stop.
Bus numbers displayed at the Hanlin Neighborhood Center bus stop.

Suzhou Subway lines

As of now there are the only three subway lines (Line number 1, 2 and 4) operating in Suzhou. There will be one more line coming up soon (Line 3). The word Ditie (地铁) means subway. Here is the list of lines –

  1. Suzhou Subway Line 1: 地铁1号线
  2. Subway Line 2: 地铁2号线
  3. Line 3: 地铁3号线
  4. Line 4: 地铁4号线
The Administrator’s Humble Garden - Suzhou Tourism has an immense potential.
The Administrator’s Humble Garden – Suzhou Tourism has an immense potential.

Understand Suzhou Bus numbers

Suzhou has so many buses running in different directions to serve the local population. How the bus numbers are written in mandarin? Well, 166路, 305路, 16路, 949路, 110路南线, 935路, 178路, 快线2号, 180路西线, 146路, 228路, 812路,etc. they are all buses.

  1. “路””线”,these two words all means ”line”
  2. “110路南线” means No.110 bus South Line, because the No.110 bus has two Lines: South Line and North Line, they go different directions. So when you take this type of bus, make sure which line is correct for you.
  3. “180路西线” means No.180 bus West Line, because the No.180 bus also has two lines: West Line and East Line.
  4. “快线2号” is also a bus, and it means Fast Line No.2. So far there are 8 fast line buses in Suzhou. These buses are numbered consecutively from 1 to 8.
What’s the best way to learn Mandarin? Well, you’d rather be in China, at least for a few years. Lindun Lu Suzhou Subway station.
What’s the best way to learn Mandarin? Well, you’d rather be in China, at least for a few years. Lindun Lu Suzhou Subway station.

Learn basic mandarin for Suzhou public transportation

Here is a compilation of some of the important words to learn mandarin. These words are heavily used by China’s public transportation systems.

Suzhou Public Transport Terms

EnglishMandarinPinyin
1WalkZou
2RunPhao
3All/everything Dou
4Ground/land Di
5IronTie
6Subway地铁Ditie
7Number/markHao
8Line/route 线Xian
92 Number Line2 号线2 Hao Xian
10Road/path/route Lu
11FastKuai
12Bus 166166 路166 Lu
13No.110 South Line (Bus)110 路南线110 Lu Nan Xian
14No.110 North Line (Bus)110 路北线110 Lu Bei Xian
15No.180 bus West line180 路西线180 Lu Xi Xian
16No.180 bus East line180 路东线180 Lu Dong Xian
17Fast line No.2 (Express 2 bus )快线 2 号Kuai Xian 2 Hao

Understanding of these characters will help you explore the Suzhou tourism better.

Emergency exit information in Suzhou bus.
Emergency exit information in Suzhou bus.

That’s all for now about Suzhou subway and bus.

If you have any query about Suzhou, feel free to post in our forum so that others could also contribute and learn. For regular updates like us on Facebook, or follow on Twitter!

If you find the write-ups useful, buy me a beer! 🙂

Wishing you get time with Suzhou tourism.

Last updated: Friday, June 8, 2018

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