All the guidebooks will tell you to go to the Yu Garden, which is a classical Chinese garden dating back to 1559 and now surrounded by a tourist bazaar. The two-hectare garden itself is beautiful, but the problem is that you’re forced to share the elegant doorways, whitewashed walls, rockeries and carp ponds with huge crowds, many from tour groups wearing matching caps. Avoid going during the weekends or national holidays to minimise the crush.
