Suzhou---Travel In China

Suzhou (蘇州 / 苏州, Hanyu Pinyin: Suzhou, Wade-Giles: Su-chou, sometimes seen transliterated as Su-chow, Suchow, or Soochow) is one of the most famous cities in China. It lies in the lower reaches of the Yangtze and on the shores of lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu. It is part of the Golden Triangle region. The city enjoys advantageous geography and excellent land, water and air transportation. The GDP per capita was ¥30470 (ca. US$3680) in 2003, ranked no. 25 among 659 Chinese cities.

History
Suzhou, the cradle of Wu culture, is one of the oldest towns in the Yangzi Basin. 2500 years ago, local tribes who named themselves "Gou Wu" in the late Shang Dynasty lived in the area which would become Suzhou.

In 514 BC, during the Spring and Autumn Period, King Helu of Wu established "Great City of Helu", the ancient name for Suzhou, as his capital.

In 496 BC, Helu was buried in Huqiu (Tiger Hill).

In 473 BC, Wu was defeated by Yue, another kingdom to the east that was soon annexed by Chu in 306 BC. The golden era of Suzhou was over.

By the time of Qin Dynasty, the city was known as Wu County. Xiang Yu staged his historical uprising here in 209 BC; Qin was overthrown.

During Sui Dynasty, the city was renamed Suzhou in 589 AD.

When the Grand Canal was completed, Suzhou found itself placed strategically on a major trading route. In the course of the history of China, it has been a metropolis of industry and commerce in the south-eastern coast of China.

During Tang Dynasty (825 AD), the great poet Bai Juyi constructed the Shantang Canal to connect the city with Huqiu for the tourists. In 1035 AD, the Confucius temple was founded.

In February 1130, the advancing Jin army from the north sacked the city and committed a holocaust, which was to be followed by Mongol invasion (1275 AD) and destruction of the royal city (in the centre of the walled city) in the beginning of Ming Dynasty (1367 AD).

Afterwards, the city had a more prosperous time; many of the famous private gardens were constructed by the gentiles of Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. However, the city was to see another disaster in 1860 AD when the Taiping rebellion advanced on the city, to be followed by the Japanese invasion (1937 AD). Many gardens were devastated by the end of the war. In the early 1950’s, restoration was done on Zhuo-Zheng Yuan (Humble Administrator's Garden), Dong Yuan (East Garden), and others, to bring them back to life. Consequently, most of the existing gardens reflects the architecture style of Qing Dynasty (1616-1911 AD), albeit many of had a history dating back to Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD).

In 1981, this ancient city was listed by the State Council as one of the four cities (the other three being Beijing, Hangzhou and Guilin) where the protection of historical and cultural heritage as well as natural scenery should be treated as a priority project.

Gardens in Suzhou were added to the list of the World Heritage Sites in 1997 and 2000.

Districts and Satellite cities
Total area: 8,488 km²
population: about 5.8 million (1.1 million in the city proper)
Districts: Pingjiang, Taichang, Jinchang, Canglang and the suburbs
Satellite cities: Changshou, Zhangjiagang, Taichang, Kunshan, Wuxian and Wujiang

Tourism
Huqiu (Tiger Hill)
Xuan-Miao Guang (founded in 276 AD, rebuilt in 1584)
Huqiu Temple (founded in 327, rebuilt in 1871)
Hanshan Temple (Cold Mountain Temple) (built in 503, destroyed and rebuilt many times, last reconstruction in 1896)
Baodai Bridge (built in 816, rebuilt in 1442)
Shantang Canal (built in 825)
Huqiu Pagoda (built in 961, destroyed & rebuilt several times, last reconstruction in 1773)
Rui-Guang Pagoda (built in 1009)
Shizi Lin (built in 1342)
Lingering Garden (Liu Yuan) (built in 1525, rebuilt in 1953)
Canglang Pavilion (Blue Wave Pavilion) (Cang-Lang Ting) (built in 1696)
Humble Administrator's Garden (Zhuozheng Yuan) (built in 1513, rebuilt in 1860)

Transportation
Railroad: the Jiangsu-Shanghai Railway
Highways: the jiangsu-Shanghai Expressway
Water transportation: connected with Zhangjiagang, Liujia and Changshou
Airway: Shuofang Airport and Guangfu United Airlines Airport

Culture
Chinese opera: Kunqu Opera, Suzhou Opera and Ballad-sing;
Silk
Handicrafts: Suzhou embroidery, fans, national musical instruments, scroll mounting, lanterns, mahogany furniture, jade carving, silk tapestry, traditional painting pigments of Jiangenxutang Studio, the New Year's wood-block prints of Taohuamu Studio
Paintings
Calligraphic art
Cuisine: Yangcheng Lake huge crab

Local Celebrities
Statesmen:
Fan Zhongyan
Yen Chia-kan
Poets:
Fan Chengda
Playwrights:
Feng Menglong
Painters:
Tan Yin
Wen Zhengming
Physists:
Chien-Shiung Wu
Others: Gu Yanwu, Zhang Taiyan

Quotes
"A very great and noble city... It has 1600 stone bridges under which a galley may pass." - Marco Polo

"Capital of Silk", "Land of Abundance", "Gusu city", "Oriental Venice", "cradle of the Wu Culture", and "World of Gardens"
- nicknames of Suzhou

"Paradise in Heaven, Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth." - Chinese old saying.

Suzhou is located in the center of the Yangtze Delta, in the south of Jiangsu Province, with Shanghai to the east, Zhejiang Province to the south, Wuxi City to the west and the Yangtze River to the north. Since 42% area of the city is covered by water, including a vast number of ponds and streams, Suzhou is praised as the 'Oriental Venice'. Taihu Lake, four fifths of which is in the territory of Suzhou, is one of the four largest fresh lakes in China, with East Hill, West Hill and other scenic spots in its vicinity. The city is cut by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from north to south. Together with its mild climate, making it an available destination all year round, fertile landscape and abundance of produce, it is no wonder that Suzhou is called 'paradise on earth'.


Built in 514 BC, Suzhou is an ancient city with a 2,500 years' history. The unique characteristics of the past are still retained in present-day Suzhou. The double-chessboard layout of Suzhou, with 'the streets and rivers go side by side while the water and land routes run in parallel', are preserved basically intact. Strolling the streets, you can feel the unique lingering charm of this landscape left by its long history.


Humble Administrator's Garden As the saying goes - 'Gardens to the south of Yangtze River are the best in the world, and Suzhou gardens are the best among them'. These gardens attain their high reputation not only for their vast numbers, but also for their charming natural beauty and harmonious construction. At present more than 60 gardens are kept intact in Suzhou, and a series of them have been listed in the World Heritage List, including the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden, the Garden of Master of Nets and the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty.
Rating alongside these classical gardens are the exquisite water townships in Suzhou. Zhouzhuang, Mudu, Tongli Town and so on should not be missed by any visitor. In any water township of Suzhou, a number of Ming and Qing dynasty preserved buildings can be found. The natural sights and human landscape enhance each other's beauty, which is a great attraction to visitors who linger there.


Being the cradle of Wu Culture, Suzhou plays a vital role in Chinese cultural history. Many great names and schools of art arose here. For example, the Wumen Fine Arts School is the finest in the history of Suzhou, represented by Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming, Tang Yin and Qiu Ying, whose poems, calligraphy and paintings are considered to be historical artifacts. Pingtan, Kun Opera and Suzhou Opera are praised as 'three flowers' in the cultural history of Suzhou. Furthermore, embroidery, fans and brocade produced in 


Zhouzhuang, an ancient water townSuzhou are noted world wide. If you want to explore more on their history visit the museum of Suzhou folk-costume for a complete description.
As one of the famous tourist cities in China, Suzhou has made a great improvement to its basic facilities and tourist functions. Suzhou is accessible by plane, train and bus. Star-rated hotels with good services and reasonable guesthouses and hostels provide a range of lodging. Of course, tasting local delicacies should not be forgotten in your journey. Authentic Suzhou cuisines and snacks can be found in Guan Qian Street, where delicious food and friendly service are memorable. When night falls, Suzhou City is quiet and peaceful. You can enjoy it while sipping a cup of tea in any teahouse.