Autumn in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai is like a palette splashed across the world

Who understands! The late autumn in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai is like God’s spilled paint palette—within a 3-hour self-drive or high-speed rail circle, there are autumn scenes more stunning than Kyoto’s! 🌾 Suzhou’s Humble Administrator’s Garden: Round windows frame half a wall of red maples, the maple trees at Jian Shan Lou immerse in the water, even the withered lotus carries the Zen of autumn. Wearing Hanfu and leaning against the flower window, you step straight into a 500-year-old Jiangnan painting. 🍁 Hangzhou’s Nine Creeks Smoke Trees: Creek water flows over bluestone slabs, red maples, golden osmanthus, and tea fields layer into an oil painting. The maple shadows sway in the morning mist, and on the way to Longjing Village, the wind carries the scent of osmanthus. 🏯 Nanjing’s Shixiang Road: 600-year-old stone beasts stand among colorful leaves. The red of Chinese tallow trees, yellow ginkgo, and orange beech weave a 600-meter “time tunnel.” The rustling sound of stepping on fallen leaves is time whispering to you. There’s also the multicolored maples on Tianping Mountain (one tree holding yellow, orange, red, and purple), the thousand-year-old ginkgo at Lingyin Temple (fallen leaves forming a golden carpet), and the maple shadows through the lattice windows at Shanghai’s Qiuxiapu... Right now is the peak period with 90% of the leaves turned red! Just 1 hour by high-speed rail, feast on hairy crabs and osmanthus cakes for under a hundred yuan, or you’ll have to wait until next year!