All countries / China / Kaifeng vs Suzhou

Kaifeng vs Suzhou

The short answer

Kaifeng is the cheaper trip, by roughly 49% a day — $25–45 against $45–90 mid-range per person. Both are at their best in Apr–May, Sep–Oct, so one trip can take in both.

Side by side

Mid-range, per person, in US dollars. Both guides were costed the same way — see how we work these out.

	🇨🇳 Kaifeng	🇨🇳 Suzhou
Daily budgetmid-range, per person	$25–45cheaper	$45–90
Cheap meallocal staple	$1.20–3cheaper	$2–5
Mid-range hotelper night	$30–55cheaper	$55–115
Transit ridesingle trip	$0.30–0.45	$0.30–0.55
Avg. monthly salarylocal, for context	≈ $780	≈ $1,350

When to go

Filled months are the ones each guide recommends; hollow ones it warns off.

Kaifeng

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Apr–May, Sep–Oct

Suzhou

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Mar–May, Sep–Nov

What you'd actually do

A few of each guide's picks, one per category before seconds — the full lists are on the guides themselves.

🇨🇳 Kaifeng

Capital of the Northern Song and, a thousand years ago, probably the largest city on earth. Today a low-rise, walkable town whose real attraction is a night market that takes over the streets after dark.

Drum Tower night market$Night markets & street food
Millennium City Park (Qingming Shanghe Yuan)$$$Song dynasty sites
Daxiangguo Temple$$Temples & walls
Diyilou (First Floor)$$Restaurants
Xisi night market$Night markets & street food

Full Kaifeng guide →

🇨🇳 Suzhou

The 'Venice of the East' — a 2,500-year-old canal city of UNESCO-listed classical gardens and whitewashed courtyard houses, sitting just half an hour from Shanghai by train.

Songhelou$$Restaurants
Han'er Garden (Pingjiang Road)$$Teahouses & Pingtan shows
Guanqian Street$Markets & shopping

Full Suzhou guide →

Practicalities

	Kaifeng	Suzhou
Language	Mandarin Chinese with a Henan accent. English is very rare — a translation app is not optional here.	Mandarin Chinese; the local Wu-family Suzhou dialect is prized for its soft tones. English is limited outside hotels and the gardens' ticket counters — a translation app helps a lot.
Currency	Renminbi / yuan (¥ or RMB). US$1 ≈ ¥7.15	Renminbi / yuan (¥ or RMB). US$1 ≈ ¥7.2

The same in both:

Time zone: CST (UTC+8), one zone nationwide, no daylight saving
Power: Type A/C/I plugs, 220V
Tap water: Don't drink it — bottled or boiled water everywhere
Emergency: 110 police · 120 ambulance · 119 fire