I agreed, on the condition she spent one night with me in Shanghai. On an extended business trip, I had already visited Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Tapei by the time I got to Shanghai. After four days of tough meetings and tours of manufacturing plants, I was ready for a bit of rest and relaxation with my wife.

I caught the amazing “bullet train” to Pudong Airport to meet her. Known as the “Maglev”, because it uses magnetic levitation to float above the tracks, it reaches a speed of 431 km/h in normal working conditions. The 30 kilometre journey from the airport to the city takes only seven minutes 20 seconds. Now that's what I call an express train!

I was staying at the five-star Pudong Shangri-La Hotel, which has superb view of the Bund across the river. "Wow", my wife said as she walked into the room, but I quickly explained that I did not always stay in such luxury, but had upgraded to an executive room for the night. My wife loved the view of the skyline.

As both of us were weary, we headed to the hotel's fabulous CHI spa for a body massage. Although there are six restaurants in the hotel, I had planned a really special dinner that evening. I had booked a table for two at the Cupola, the domed lookout on the famous Three on the Bund building. For me, no restaurant in the world to match this setting, with its splendid outlook on the waterfront and twinkling high-rises across the river.

Guests order food from any of the famous restaurants in the building. We dined from Jean Georges Shanghai, renowned for its light French fare and award-winning woman sommelier, Yvonne Chiong. Our dinner was every bit as good as I hoped it would be. I chose a wild mushroom soup, served with parmesan, chilli and thyme, and loin of lamb with soya bean puree as my main course. My wife delighted in her choices of crab salad with mango and steamed lobster with lemon and butter. There is no doubt that the French chef is a genius, and I am now a real Jean Georges devotee.

The next day we caught a train to Suzhou. Although not in the same league as the Maglev, a bullet-head D train took less than an hour for the journey. We booked into the Sheraton Suzhou Hotel and Towers in the heart of the old city. What a find this hotel was! Besides the luxurious accommodation, it also has the most magnificent classical garden, with its own antique water-gate.

Built in 514 BC, this historic city lies in the centre of the Yangtze Delta. Its major charms lie in the 'old city', now surrounded by modern suburbs and industrial parks. The first thing that struck us was the abundance of water. More than 40% of Suzhou is covered by water and the city is divided by a canal that runs from Beijing to Hangzhou. The city is also home to scores of ponds, streams and canals, earning it the title of "Oriental Venice".

We visited the magnificent Taihu Lake, one of the four largest fresh lakes in China, but our biggest thrill was taking a boat tour through the canals. Like Venice and Amsterdam, the city is divided by a network of canals. As you travel down the waterways you are treated to views of historic buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

The water townships give you a glimpse of the very traditional life and, at one point, we disembarked at a local market. Crowded and ramshackle in appearance, it nonetheless stocked everything from fresh fruit to steam irons to second-hand shoes. Despite it being packed, everyone was surprisingly friendly.

We went into a small restaurant to taste the local fare. This ranged from an orange chicken dish to delicious steamed crabs and barbel soup. Our guide insisted we try the city's most famous dish, Songshu Guiyu (mandarin fish, stewed and fried), a favourite of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. As dessert, we were presented with small moon cakes stuffed with fresh meat.

As enchanting as the river tour and water villages are, the gardens are the reason why most people visit Suzhou. The gardens were built for private use by aristocrats and rich businessmen and date back to the Sixth Century BC. Established during the Ming and Qing dynasties, around 60 superbly-maintained gardens remain. Four of them are listed as World Heritage sites - the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden, the Garden of Master of Nets and the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty.

All the gardens are stunning, but our favourite was the Garden of the Master of the Nets in Suzhou. As with all the gardens in Suzhou, it seeks to recreate a natural environment using an artistic layout that fits in with Chinese ideology. The result is a number of bridges, pagodas, walkways and streams. The main part of this garden has a large pond, which has a small pavilion in the centre. This can only be reached by a walkway less than one foot wide.

There is also a small "inner garden" on the property, which is considered the best-preserved garden in the city. It was used as the model for the Ming Garden Hall at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and a model was put on display at the Pompidou Center in Paris in 1982. The garden is open at night and, under the stars, we watched a performance of Pingtan, a form of storytelling and ballad singing in Suzhou dialect.

It was impossible to do everything in one weekend, but we managed to visit the Tiger Hill Pagoda, where the tomb of King He Lu is situated. We enjoyed authentic Suzhou cuisine at the Pine and Crane Restaurant in Guan Qian Street and visited a traditional tea house, Shuang Zhao Lou, located in the Garden of Couple's Retreat. We toured the Silk Museum on Renmin Road and later bought a magnificent silk bedcover. My wife also insisted on taking home some Song Brocade, which is woven from the finest silk, a sandalwood fan and Biluochun tea.

We left Suzhou with a feeling that this would not be our last visit. This enchanting city of canals and gardens had won our hearts and will certainly bring us back to this corner of China again.