Suzhou Attractions

Suzhou lies south of the river delta of the Chiangjian on the eastern bank of the Taihu Lake in the southeast of Jiangsu province. It is a good hour by train from Shanghai, four hours from Nanjing and sixteen hours from Beijing. A dense network of roads connects it with other cities in the province and also with Shanghai and Hangzhou. As the city is on the Imperial Canal Suzhou can offer tourists the possibility of a short cross-country cruise as far as Hangzhou.

The Imperial Canal is one of the many canals which flow through the city and which have given it the title of ''Venice of the East''. Suzhou is also famed for its gardens which gave it another name, ''Heaven on Earth''. It has always been one of the most important centers of the Chinese silk industry, and its silk embroideries are famous. Cotton, chemical and light industries are today no longer important.

History

Suzhou is over 2500 years old. He Lu, the ruler of the Wu state, proclaimed Suzhou as capital of the empire in 484 BC, and in 514 BC he built a defense wall surrounding the city; this is no longer in existence. According to some old documents the wall was 23.5m/70ft long and had sixteen gates. Despite numerous urban attacks which took place throughout the centuries, the historic city center is barely unchanged in its plan. Of the eight gates, which are not situated by the water, only two have been preserved.

From the 5th C onwards many civil servants, traders, and scholars settled here and laid out magnificent gardens to enhance the appearance of their houses. Suzhou developed into an economic and cultural center, mainly as a result of the building of the Imperial Canal in the 6th C.

From the 14th C the silk industry transformed Suzhou into the richest town of southeast China and the second largest town in the country after Beijing. As place of residence for many rich officials it again became a nationally important center of culture and science up to the 19th C.