Vanessa Narvios, an American market consultant who's been in Shanghai for seven years, says: "Having been living in Shanghai for so long, it's really easy to get caught up by the hustle and bustle of the city, and forget how close Suzhou is from Shanghai."

Narvios took the 25-minute bullet train to Suzhou for 35 yuan ($5) last week.

Her favorite experience of the day trip was a behind-the-scenes tour of a local Kunqu Opera performance. She was able to wear traditional makeup and learned to sing a few lines.

Suzhou tourism bureau international marketing director Wang Dongru says inbound tourism has been growing.

TripAdvisor's 2018 travelers' choice list ranks Suzhou 10th among Chinese destinations.

The number of people who visited Suzhou and stayed for more than one night from January through May reached around 780,000, a 14 percent increase over the period in 2017, the bureau reports.

The hope is that expats living in Shanghai will boost the future figures.