SUZHOU
With Taihu Lake in its south and Yangtze River at its northern fringe, Suzhou, semi-encircled by the Grand Canal, Suzhou has its unique scenery of crisscrossing waterways lined with houses and stone bridges in traditional lCoal style. Rich aquatic and farm produce has long made Suzhou "a land of rice and fish" and "the home of silk". It was called a "Paradise on Earth" in ancient times and is known as the "Venice of the East" today. Named "the city of gardens", Suzhou has always held a leading position in China's architectural art and landscape gardening. Suzhou's art of gardening has undergone a history of 1,500 years. There were once over 200 gardens in the city, and 69 of them are still in good reservation today. In December 1997, UNESCO Heritage Committee added these classical gardens of Suzhou to the World Heritage List. Known as the nation's supplier of products for export, Suzhou has now quickly developed into a trade city, ranking only second to Shanghai among the major cities along the Yangtze Delta. Moreover, with the rich historical and cultural sites, as well as the natural scenery, Suzhou has become one of the most popular tourist cities in China.
Suzhou is lCoated on the shores of Lake Taihu in the lower reaches of the Yangtze between 119o55' and 121o20' east longitude and between 30o47' and 32o02' north latitude. The city covers a total area of 8,488 square km with 1,650 square km of urban area. It enjoys a mild and humid climate with an annual rainfall of 1,100 mm, an average annual temperature of 15.7Co. Suzhou has a vast number of ponds and streams. The Grand Canal flows from its north to south, with rivers like Wangyu, Loujiang and Taipu connecting its east and west. Dotting in this chessboard are lakes like Yangcheng, Kuncheng and Dianshan. 90% of the Taihu Lake is within the territory of Suzhou. The natural scenery of hills and waters in Suzhou is as charming as a delicate beauty. Of the whole area, 10 per cent is cultivated fields, 30 per cent hills, and the rest covered with water. The average altitude of Suzhou is 4 meters.
Suzhou has a population of 5.83 million with 2.12 million in urban area. The main inhabitants are Han nationality which takes 99 percent of total population. The main religion here is Buddhism and Taoism. The natives speak Suzhou dialect (Wu dialect), but the government language is still mandarin.
The history of Suzhou can be traced back to Shang Dynasty in 1,800 B.C. During the Spring & Autumn Period in 514B.C, King He Lu of Wu State established Suzhou as the capital known as the "Great City of Helu" and since then the city's site and scale have remained virtually unchanged. It was the construction of the Jinghang Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty (AD581-618) that marked the beginning of the prosperity of the city. The silk trade was establishes since then and reached the peak in the Southern Song Dynasty when the capital of China moved to Hangzhou. When the first Ming Emperor founded his capital in Nanjing city, Suzhou continued to enjoy a privileged position within the orbit of the court and to flourish as a center for the production of wood blCok and weaving of silk.

Tourist Attractions in Suzhou

Tiger Hill
Tiger Hill is located in the southwest of Suzhou City. At the foot of the hill there is a sword pond, 5 meters deep. According to legend, the emperor of the Wu Kingdom He Lu was buried under the pond. On the stone wall of the sword pond are inscribed "Hu Qiu Jian Chi ("Tiger Hill and Sword Pond" and "Feng He Yun Quan" (Windy Gully and Cloud Spring); the former is Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy of the Tang Dynasty and the latter is Mi Di's Calligraphy. Yunyansi Pagoda lying at the top of Tiger Hill was established in the Song Dynasty - symbol of Suzhou - with seven stories and eight sides. It is shaped like a pavilion and built of bricks on which there are colored drawings.

The famous Song Poet Su Dongpo said that "It's a pity of a lifetime if you have been to Suzhou but missed the Tiger Hill". So popular is the saying that the Hill becomes a must on the itinerary of every visitor to Suzhou.

The founding father of Suzhou, King He Lu died in 600 B.C. It was said that a white tiger occasionally appeared to guard his tomb in Tiger Hill; hence the name for the hill. Tiger Hill is 36 meters high, 630 meter in perimeter with a total area of 20 hectare (200,000 sqm). Tiger Hill's history can be traced back to 2500 years ago, the same age as the city of Suzhou.

Han Shan Temple
Hanshan Temple situated near Fengqiao (Maple) Bridge to the west of Suzhou City. It is said that Han Shan and She De, monks of the Tang Dynasty, used to live here: hence the name Hanshan Temple. The present temple was rebuilt after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The poet of the Tang Dynasty Zhang Ji's famous poem "Night Anchoring beside Maple Bridge" refers to this place. In the middle of the temple is the main hall of Buddha. On either side of the hall there is a verandah. The verandah on the right side leads to the bell tower.

The poem that made the temple famous in China and overseas reads as "The moon descends, and crows cry in the frost-filled sky. I gaze at the riverside maples and fisherman's light in melancholy sleeplessness. Then, outside the town of Suzhou, the night bell of Han Shan Temple, reaches as far as my boat."

Fishing Master's Garden
The Garden of the Master of the Nets (Wang Shi Yuan) is the best and most celebrated of all the Suzhou gardens. The Garden is truly a masterpiece. The effective use of space is the most impressive thing about this garden. Rock arrangements and beautiful fish pools balance each other as well as the house and garden. The garden also contains many examples of using lattice windows to frame scenes of flowers or bamboo. In the early 1980s, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York used the Dianchunyi Court section (located in the western part of the inner garden) as a model for a Ming style garden.

Grand Canal & Ancient City Gate
The Grand Canal ranks alongside the Geat Wall of China as the country's greatest engineering achievement. For centuries, the 1800-kilometre waterway has played a key role in the nation's trade. The first sections were dug about 400 BC, probably for military purposes, but the historic task of linking the Yellow and the Yangzi rivers was not achieved until the early seventh century AD under the Emperor Sui Yang Di, when as many as six million men may have been pressed into service for its construction.

Silk Factory
Suzhou is famous for its silk production. Located at Beisi Pagoda Scenic Area and built in 1991, this is the first silk musuem in China. Its Silkworm and Mulberry Hall and Weaving Hall enable visitors to understand the history of silk and its production. See how silk is processed from the silk worm to the final woven cloth.