Suzhou Travel Guide

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Suzhou Overview

Suzhou is one of the most important cities on the Yangtze Delta. The city covers an area of 8488 square kilometers with the urban area covering 1650 square kilometers. Suzhou has a population of 5.9097 million with 2.1687 million people living in the downtown area.

Suzhou was the cradle of culture for Wu State in ancient China, and produced many capable people in literary circles. Examples are Lu Ji from the Western Jin Dynasty, the politician Fan Zhongyan and the poet Fan Chengda in Song Dynasty, the dramatist Feng Menglong in Ming Dynasty, Tang Yin and Wen Zhengming of "Wu Painting School", scholars of the Qing Dynasty and Gu Yanwu, Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan in modern times.

Story-telling and ballad singing, Kun verse and the drama of Suzhou are referred to as the "Three Flowers of Suzhou Culture". Kun verse, with more than 400 years' of history, is the mother of Chinese drama and verse. Suzhou storytelling and ballad singing is a unique art with talking and singing performed in Suzhou dialect.

Suzhou embroidery together with embroidery of Hunan, Sichuan and Guangdong are called as the "Four Famous Embroideries". Suzhou tapestry method is done in fine silks and gold thread. Other art forms found in this area are sculpture, Song brocade, jade and rosewood carving.
The Suzhou Museum has a rich collection of relics from many eras. The collection includes revolutionary records, stele carving, folk customs, drama and verse, Suzhou embroidery, silk cloth, gardens, coins and Buddhist artifacts.

Suzhou is one of the important tourist destinations in the nation. There are 489 places of cultural significance under preservation in Suzhou. The number of cultural relic under preservations in Suzhou is next only to Beijing and Xi'an.

Much of Suzhou's ancient city is built on a maze of canals. The streets and canals form an intricate web where the streets seem to lean on the river. Buildings are constructed along the water, with their front door facing the narrow streets lanes and backing onto the rivers. They form a unique style know locally as "little bridge, running water and the household".

The classical gardens in Suzhou originated in the Spring and Autumn Period (514 B.C.), developed in the Five Dynasties and maturated in Song Dynasty and became prosperous in Ming Dynasty. By the end of Qing Dynasty, there were more than 170 gardens in Suzhou.  More that 60 places are conserved completely and 19 places are open to the tourists. Suzhou gardens are a comprehensive artwork composed of buildings, landscape, flowers and woods combining natural beauty and the beauty of the architecture. In December 1997 UNESCO added Zhuozhengyuan Garden, Liuyuan Garden, Wangshiyuan Garden and Huanxiushanzhuang to the "World Heritage List", as representatives of the ancient gardens in Suzhou. Suzhou gardens are generally have water at their center. While the gardens are quite small, the scenery changes with each step; the gardens usually have pink walls, black tiles and brown columns. The decoration includes rosewood furniture, paintings and the calligraphy from the famous artists. Suzhou gardens are appreciated for their beauty and also have a high value for historical and cultural research.

The local area code: 0512

Postal code: 215000

Telephone for complaint: 0512-65223377

Jurisdiction area: Suzhou Government has five counties  Zhangjiagang, Changshu, Taicang, Kunshan and Wujiang and five districts Pingjiang, Canglang, Jinchang, Wuzhong and Xiangcheng; Suzhou industrial gardens district and Suzhou Gaoxin district (Huqiu district).