We planned to visit Ruiguang Pagoda after learning that it was just a short walk from our Suzhou accommodation – Pace Hotel. It was time for lunch but we thought we could just grab some food on the way to the Panmen Scenic area so we would not waste more time.

Snacks on The Go

However, there were no suitable shops around which just sold “snacks” for us to eat on the go. We finally managed to walk past a “Bao Zi Dian” – Chinese buns shop and bought Chinese bao for the three of them.

Alas, I could not eat those (am wheat-sensitive)! Immediately, I realised I should have bought suitable food for myself just now, at the Family Mart beside Pace Hotel. I forgot that it was Suzhou’s rural area and eateries are not found everywhere, unlike in the cities!

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Reaching Panmen Scenic Area

We soon reached an area with a nice border gate and absolutely need to take photos with it. The Ruiguang Pagoda stood tall in the far distance for us to capture it as our background. Alas, unknown to me at that time, the stabilizer on my camera was set to off and the images turned out blurry! Fortunately, I discovered it after we ascended some stairs in the pagoda or I would not have any nice pictures to show!

Entering Panmen Scenic Area

The front gate was impressive as we approached, but the sun decided to suddenly make its appearance. We were then wearing clothing meant for the cooler weather (might be visiting different places until late at night), so it became rather warm.

As we approached the entrance, I saw the temperature board and discovered it was 27 degrees Celsius (80.6F)! We had a great laugh at ourselves because we wearing many layers of clothing! Thus, we quickly packed up our coats but could not anything about our long sleeve knitwear shirts.

Historical Information – Why Visit?

Ruiguang Pagoda, together with Pan Men and Wu Gate Bridge, are known as the “three landmarks of Panmen”. It is the earliest pagoda built in 247 and made of bricks with wooden platforms. Pan Men or Pan Gate is part of the ancient city wall built in 514 BCE that surrounded and protected Suzhou as it was the only entrance to the wall that surrounded ancient Suzhou. The government expanded the area around the gate and developed it into the current Panmen Scenic Area tourist attraction.

It took a while before we walked across the huge quiet compound and reached the bottom of the Ruiguang Pagoda. We seemed to be the only visitors around at that time.

Alas, I thought too soon, as our peace was very quickly broken by a group of chit-chatting tourists with a tour guide, blaring out information to them. I was a little anxious that they were heading to the same pagoda area but fortunately, they walked past and went behind.

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Ascending the Ruiguang Pagoda

We left our stroller at the bottom and started our ascend into the tower. It was an exciting new adventure for us as we had not climbed this type of ancient wooden staircase before. It took us a while before we got the hang of how to place our foot and pull ourselves up. The little one was super excited as she loves climbing staircases.

We went right to the top and were stopped by a barred staircase.

Stepping out of an exit, we had a good look of the gardens below. The surroundings were nice but we did not have luxury of time to explore much. We were just here for the pagoda.

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Beautiful Garden Scenery from Ruiguang Pagoda

Descending Ruiguang Pagoda

The descend was much slower as the staircase looked very steep and a little scary. The surroundings were quite dark so it was difficult to gauge our steps. We told Dar to walk backwards instead so it would be less risky.

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Panmen Surrounding Gardens – Great for Photo-taking

We walked to the back of the Ruiguang Pagoda to admire the beautiful lake garden and took some photos. Due to lack of time, we didn’t venture further but tourists could go on to look at Panmen and the Wu Gate Bridge.

Suzhou Itinerary : Day 1

Day 1

• Pace Hotel
• Panmen Scenic Area
• Ruiguang Pagoda (Inside Panmen)
• Canglang Pavilion
• Suzhou Silk Museum
• Explore Guanqian Street
• Dinner at De Yue Lou Restaurant in Guanqian Street

>> Read A Summary Detailed Itinerary of Our China Trip: 9 days in Shanghai Itinerary, Hangzhou and Suzhou Itinerary