Suzhou or Xi'an?

You can't swim outdoors in either city, so in both the water means a pool. Suzhou's lakes and canals are for looking at, and its nearest shore is the muddy Yangtze estuary. Xi'an is far inland but has something Suzhou lacks: hot-spring pools at the Lintong resorts, on the way to the Terracotta Army.

Both cities eat well, but they could hardly be more different at the table. Suzhou cooks in a delicate, slightly sweet style built on lake fish, shrimp and the seasons. Its dishes run from the glazed squirrel-shaped mandarin fish to the breakfast bowl of noodles in dark broth, with hairy crab in autumn and osmanthus cakes from the old pastry shops.

Xi'an is wheat country, with hand-pulled and biangbiang noodles, roujiamo and mutton soup with flatbread you crumble in yourself. It is eaten fast and cheaply among the open stalls of the Muslim Quarter. Go to Suzhou for refinement, and to Xi'an for bold, spicy, sour flavours and street eating late into the evening.

The two are level here, and the choice comes down to scale. Suzhou's treasures are intimate: the UNESCO-listed classical gardens, each a small walled world of rockery, pond and pavilion, plus canal streets such as Pingjiang Road and I. M. Pei's museum.

Xi'an deals in imperial grandeur and deep time. It has a complete Ming wall to walk or cycle, the Tang pagodas, the vast Daming Palace site and the bronzes and murals of the Shaanxi History Museum. Suzhou rewards slow looking at small spaces. Xi'an rewards anyone who wants to stand among the remains of ancient capitals.

Neither city is made for a big night out, and both wind down early. Suzhou's evenings are quieter and more romantic: a lantern-lit stroll along Shantang Street, a drink by the water, then small bars on Shiquan Street or a rooftop lounge by Jinji Lake. Shanghai is half an hour away for anything later.

Xi'an's evenings are livelier and more public. Crowds eat their way through the Muslim Quarter and along the floodlit boulevard below the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and there are bars on Defu Xiang and a few loud clubs for local crowds.

Xi'an has the better outdoors, because real mountains rise just south of the city. The Zhongnan foothills offer forested valleys and Taoist temples within an hour. Mount Hua's sheer granite ridges make a hard, memorable day by fast train, and Taibai Mountain tempts serious hikers.

Suzhou's countryside is flatter and gentler. Its highlights are cycling the lakeside roads of Lake Tai among the orchards and tea terraces of Dongshan and Xishan, and short climbs up Lingyan Hill for the autumn maples. It suits easy rides and strolls, not hiking.

Suzhou's place on the Yangtze delta rail lines gives it the wider choice. Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou are all within about an hour and a half, and the canal towns of Tongli and Luzhi are under an hour away.

Xi'an has the more famous single excursion, the Terracotta Army with Huaqing Palace beside it. It also has imperial tombs such as Qianling, and the Longmen Grottoes are reachable at Luoyang. The difference is variety: Suzhou's outings take you to quite different cities, while most of Xi'an's circle the same theme of tombs, temples and relics.

Neither city is an easy family destination, and the difference lies in what holds children's attention. Young children tire of Suzhou's gardens quickly, so the canal boat rides, the open parks around Jinji Lake and the amusement and water parks in the western districts do the work.

In Xi'an, children enjoy cycling on top of the city wall and seeing the pandas and golden monkeys at the Qinling wildlife park, and the clay soldiers hold them for an hour or so. Both cities share hot summers and heavy crowds in the national vacation weeks.

Suzhou is slightly the easier city to move around. The old town inside the moat is a pleasure to walk or cycle along the canal lanes, and the metro is clean and signed in English, though Tiger Hill and the Lake Tai shore need a taxi.

Xi'an's walled grid is just as walkable at its centre, and Line 9 takes you most of the way to the Terracotta Army. But rush-hour traffic and Chinese-only signs away from the metro make it a little harder going.

Both cities sell crafts rather than fashion, and each has its own speciality. In Suzhou it is silk and fine double-sided embroidery, bought from the workshops of Zhenhu or the old shops on Guanqian Street. In Xi'an it is calligraphy brushes, ink stones and seals on Shuyuanmen, with dried fruit and shadow puppets in the Muslim Quarter. Xi'an's malls also carry luxury labels, while Suzhou shoppers after designer fashion usually go to Shanghai.

Xi'an is the cheaper of the two. It is an inland city where noodles, metro rides and a comfortable hotel inside the wall all cost noticeably less than on the coast. Suzhou is still good value by Western standards, but it is a prosperous delta city, and crab dinners and the signature fish dishes push up a food budget.

In both cities admission fees are the main extra expense. In Suzhou they come from visiting several gardens in a day, and in Xi'an from the Terracotta Army, the wall and the big tomb sites.

Suzhou has the more distinctive stage. It is the birthplace of Kunqu, whose slow, refined scenes are sung by lantern light in garden pavilions on summer evenings. Its pingtan storytellers perform in small teahouses, and the arts centre by Jinji Lake handles concerts and touring shows.

Xi'an's offering is louder and more often staged for visitors: Tang dynasty dinner shows and the hillside spectacle at Huaqing Palace. Raw Qinqiang opera and shadow puppetry reward those who look further. In both cities most of it is in Chinese.

Suzhou is the easier place to slow down. An early hour in a garden, a pot of Biluochun in a canal-side teahouse and the quiet spa hotels on Lake Tai give it a calm that is part of the city's character.

Xi'an is built for sightseeing. It does have the one thing Suzhou lacks, the hot springs at Lintong where Tang emperors once bathed, and cheap bathhouses with saunas and rest halls in town.