2-Hour Drive from Shanghai: Spend a Weekend in a Small Town

It's that time of the year again when people in Shanghai are looking for places to visit on the weekend. This year, I've been to Suzhou many times to climb mountains. It's actually a 2-hour drive, but if you take the high-speed train, there are many more places to choose from! 2-Day Trip to Chuzhou 1️⃣ Head out after work or school on Friday and take a stroll along Zunyang Street in the evening. You can also visit Taiping Ancient City in the neighboring county. We didn't dare to go to Xiaoxie to queue, so we chose Qingliu Street Lao Han Oyster Sauce Skewers, which was recommended by locals. It was delicious! The barbecue and oyster sauce skewers were both delicious! 2️⃣ On the second day, eat and drink to your heart's content and then climb Langya Mountain. Enter from the north gate! There are scenic spots all along the way. If your child can walk less than 10 km, you can skip Tongle Park. When you reach Nantianmen, you can choose to take the electric car down the mountain. In this case, the one-way trip is 6 km. You can also walk along the slope to Fly Over the Jungle. Our child is 4 years and 2 months old. We entered from the north gate and exited from the south gate, walking a total of 9 km (he has a lot of hiking experience, so you can use this as a reference). 3️⃣ After descending the mountain, head straight to Mu Lao Jiu for a hot pot. It's a halal restaurant, and the beef and mutton are really good and in large portions! If there are only a few of you, be careful when ordering. The cold dishes are free to take, and the kids love the lamb patties. 4️⃣ On Sunday, you can go to the dog market. The flower, bird, fish, and insect market is not far from the high-speed train station. This should be the closest market to Shanghai, where you can take your kids to eat, drink, and experience a market that they can only see in textbooks. If you have time, you can also visit Chuzhou Museum and Nanjing Taipu Temple. The whole city is very niche in the Yangtze River Delta. It's not too cold to hike on a sunny winter day, which is great for children's hearts and lungs.