Please join us in 蘇 州Suzhou, China, on June 21-22, 2025

Welcome Tea | June 21st, 2025 2-5PM

Qi Garden Whiskey Lounge 天光·齊

Address: steps away from 拙政园 the Humble Adminstrator’s Garden

For the pre-wedding celebration, we welcome our out-of-town guests to a garden lounge steps away from the Humble Adminstrator’s Garden, which we hope our guests can take advantage of the wedding to visit. The Humble Adminstrator’s Garden Is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that preserves both the architecture and zeitgeist of Ming Dynasty Suzhou - a celebration of elegance over extravagance, culture over politics, and homecoming and sitting underneath one’s own vines and fig trees. An exact replica of one corner of the garden is installed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dress code: Cocktail Casual

Wedding Ceremony | June 22nd, 2025

Tea Ceremony and the Three Bridges at Tongli Town

Traditionally, the tea ceremony is where the bride and groom prepare and serve tea to their respective families. The event is considered the traditional nuptial ritual.

The all-day ceremony will begin at the bride’s birth home, where the bride and the groom will serve tea to the bride’s parents as the bride bids farewell to her birth family, followed by a procession across the town to the groom’s home. At the groom’s house, the bride and groom will again serve tea to the groom’s parents as recognition of the joining of two families.

In Suzhou and especially near the ancient Tongli Town, newlyweds cross the three auspicious bridges over the canals. The three bridges symbolize peace, luck, and lasting celebration.

The ceremony at the bride’s home will be an intimate celebration of family and the wedding party only. We invite our guests to gather at the groom’s (temporary) residence at Blossom Hill to observe the second tea ceremony and the crossing of the three bridges. Tongli Town is a protected destination; an entrance ticket ($15) is required to enter before 5 PM. We recommend entering the town through the North gate (set your Uber destination to Tongli North Gate) ; then, you will be 8 minutes of walk away from Blossom Hill and the three bridges. After the ceremony, we will shuttle guests to the reception venue at the Tongli Lake Resort.

Dress code: Formal (but ladies, please kindly reserve the color red for the bride)

Reception | June 22nd, 2025 6PM

Tongli Lake Resort 同里湖度假村

Address: 88 West Lake Highway, Dongjiao, Wujiang, Suzhou

For the reception after the tea ceremony, we want to bring guests to the Tai Lake near the ancient Tongli Town, where we will host a Chinese banquet featuring Suzhou delicacies, popular Chinese fare, and, of course, an unnecessary amount of bai-jiu.

We do hope out-of-town guests can bring some moves and help break Suzhouneses’ unspoken fear of dancing

Dress code: Formal (but ladies, please kindly reserve the color red for the bride)

Farewell Breakfast | June 23rd, 2025 10AM

Blossom Hill Tongli 花间堂·丽则女校

Address: 55 Dong Xi Street, Tongli, Wujiang, Suzhou

Enjoy breakfast and a traditional tea performance for those sticking around in the afternoon. The venue is a renovated school for girls from the Republic Era - it consists of a hundred-year-old Chinese garden, sister garden of the Tuisi Garden steps away, and a school for girls. The Republic's architecture style combines elements of a colonial era and the traditional Suzhou garden. It seals in time the ethos and romance associated with an era of rapid change in China.

A guided zen tea ceremony will be performed in groups of 5 for guests after breakfast at the venue. Click here to sign up.

Dress code: Casual - loose clothing recommended for extended sitting on the ground

Travel

Suzhou is a big city to navigate, with five districts and four towns. For accommodation, we recommend guests either stay in the Gusu District, where the majority of Suzhou’s historical landmarks are and where we will host the welcome tea, or remain in the ancient Tongli town near the reception venue. We do not recommend staying at the Tongli Lake Resort. For booking, please use trip.com for the best and most comprehensive hotel list.

南园饭店 Garden Hotel Suzhou

Gusu District

99 Daichengqiao Road, near Fenghuang street, Gusu, Suzhou

#gardens #Lion garden #close to Suzhou landmarks

Address-Chinese: 苏州市姑苏区带城桥路99好，近凤凰街

隐庐同里别院 Yinlu Tongli Garden

Tongli Town

66 Sanyuan St, Tongli Town, Wujiang, Suzhou

#luxury #historical #few rooms available

Address-Chinese: 苏州市吴江区同里镇三元街66号

花间堂 丽则女校 Blossom Hill

Tongli Town

55 Dong Xi Street, Tongli, Wujiang, Suzhou

#tea ceremony #historical #special block rate*

Address-Chinese: 苏州市吴江区同里镇东溪街55号

*Contact bride for info

FAQs and Travel Tips

  • Depending on your travel plans, you can fly in several international airports within China. Shanghai PVG airport should be the easiest to fly into and get from on your way to Suzhou.

  • Hotels in Ancient Tongli Town

    Hotels in Gusu District

  • Please download WeChat prior to your travel to ensure good communication for the event

    We will send out a QR code to join our WeChat out-of-town guest group

  • Baijiu is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume. Tip to avoid over-consumption: avoid cheeky Chinese uncles who bring a suspicious shot glass with them

  • You will need a VPN for majority of your time here. I recommend using Shadow Rocket where you can link up with fast-speed and reliable VPN IP addresses (which I can share), or Express VPN (paid plan but a better UI).

    Without VPN, you will not be able to access majority of the social media, messaging apps, Google Services and western news outlets. But you can access Zoom and Microsoft Services

  • Suzhou has a very good subway system and has rentable bikes as long as you have a Chinese number to receive texts with. Ride-hailing is also relatively affordable - the rideshare platform is the DiDi Rider app.

  • Suzhou is 20 min away from Shanghai and 5 hours away from Beijing by high speed train. If you plan to travel, please click here to join this WhatsApp pre-travel group where we will share resources and tips.

  • Gifts are not necessary nor expected for out-of-town guests. Your travelling across the world to celebrate us is a gift in itself.

    If you do want to contribute, please refer to our registry page where you can contribute what you wish. If you want to take part in the Chinese tradition of red envelopes, aka Hongbao 🧧, you can wrap a note, a card, or 5 RMB bills in red envelopes, which you can find in convenience shops and most stores in China.

  • We recommend you to apply for the 10 year multi-entry visa. And here is a consolidated visa guide
    https://www.jialuke.com/chinese-visa-guide