Niccolo Suzhou

he world-famous Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is an ancient grandeur project in the Eastern Plains. It is the earliest and longest manmade watercourse in the world. With an overall length of 1794 kilometers, the ancient Grand Canal started in Beijing in the north and reached Hangzhou in the south, flowing through 4 provinces and 2 cities of Beijing City, Hebei Province, Tianjin City, Shandong Province, Jiangsu Province and Zhejiang Province, and linking up the river systems of Haihe River, Yellow River, Huai River, Yangtze River and Qiantang River. In the long history, the Grand Canal has made enormous contribution to the communication between North China and South China in both economy and culture. The ancient city of Suzhou was the paradise for all merchants owing to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal; even to this day, about half of the volume of goods is transported by waterway through the Grand Canal. To boat on the ancient Grand Canal is absolutely one of the best ways to appreciate the beauty of typical ancient river towns in south region of Yangtze River. Along the way, there are 10 ancient city gates of Suzhou, more than 20 stone bridges in diverse styles of traditional designs, ancient river town dwellings and historical relics; and the gorgeous lighting adds more glamour to the night boating of the Grand Canal. In addition, during the journey, visitors can also learn the historical stories, local customs, and enjoy good food of local flavors when appreciating the surrounding landscapes.

Jinji Lake scenic spot, located in the business district of Suzhou Industrial Park, is an open and national AAAAA tourist attraction. It covers a land area of 11.5 square kilometers, 7.4 sq.km of which are covered by water. As an important demonstration of the only “prototype-zone of national business travel” in China, the Jinji Lake scenic spot, embodying the charm of modern Suzhou, together with the ancient district of Suzhou dotted with classical gardens, form a piece of double-sided embroidery based on the theme of “Suzhou tourism”. Commitment to the big economy trend, big tourism consciousness is well exhibited in the construction of the scenic spot where a variety of elements such as finance, culture, tourism, exhibition, sports, commerce, etc. are highly concentrated and fully integrated. Around the Lake scatters shiny pearls, namely Suzhou Culture and Arts Center, Suzhou JinJi Lake International Convention Center, Suzhou International Expo Center, Li Gong Di Causeway, Eslite Bookstore, Yuanrong Times Square, Jiuguang Department Store, Shin Kong Place etc., which thus provide visitors with one-stop services.

Completed in 2017, Suzhou Center, with a land area of 16.7 hectares and a total floor area of 1.13 million square meters, is the biggest mixed-use project of its kind in Suzhou. It features a combination of integrated and eco-friendly offices, residences, shopping mall, hotels and other facilities to establish a “live-work-play” lifestyle. Suzhou Center Mall, jointly developed by Hengtai Holdings, an SIP-based real estate conglomerate and the developer of Suzhou Center, and Singaporean real estate group CapitaLand, is home to about 600 brands, and has recorded a total customer footfall of about 240 million so far, with the consumption per consumer increasing year by year. The mall was conferred the honor of “Best New Shopping Centre” at the MAPIC Awards 2018 in Cannes, France, and has thus far bagged a variety of awards and honors for its design and services.

Qionglong Mountain is the best-known mountain in Suzhou, whose tallest peak, the Broad-rimmed Hat Peak, is 341.7 meters above sea level. As the highest mountain in the eastern coast of Taihu Lake, Qionglong Mountain is dubbed the Top of Suzhou. The famous ancient Chinese militarist Sun Tzu wrote the masterpiece The Art of War here. The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty climbed the mountain for six times; the official Zhu Maichen of the Western Han dynasty once cut wood and studied here; the great general Han Shizhong who fought against the Jurchen Jin Dynasty was recorded to gather here with his subordinates for scenery and the view of the full moon. Endowed with abundant natural resources, Qionglong Mountain houses a natural vegetation museum named the Thatched Recess, which is a provincial nature reserve covering 612 mu. Moreover, Qionglong Mountain is regarded as the largest “Natural Forest Oxygen Bar” in Suzhou.

Pingjiang Road, historically known as Shiquan Li (Chinese:十泉里), is a street and historic district in Gusu District (formerly the Pingjiang District), northeastern Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. The length of this road is 1,606 meters which has been recorded since the Song Dynasty. On the map of Suzhou ancient city in Song Dynasty, the Pingjiang Road was regarded as the main route. After 800 years, Pingjiang Road is still well-preserved. For many centuries, the street has been the center of much of Suzhou's cultural life. People may take a leisurely look at the titles on display in a bookstore, or take a rest in a teahouse while viewing a Pingtan performance, which involves telling folk tales and stories as well as singing ballads in the local dialect. Located in the heart of the old city, Pingjiang Road is the best preserved and largest scale historical street in the area. With a history of 800 years, Pingjiang road still maintains its street layout and characteristics in ancient forms. It creates Suzhou a classical Jiangnian water village where stone paths and water lanes are crossing each other. When you walk in the Pingjiang historical block, the road was still the old paved roads; the river was still green and clear and the residence was still as quiet as before. Waling on the Pingjiang road, you can see all the scenery was as beautiful as a painting. The black tiles have the traces of white wall when it rains, just like a Chinese ink. In these old residences, there was a gallery managed by a Frenchman or a reading corner managed by an Irish or a residential hostel or a hotel for backpacker. However, there were also some special shops for the natives in Suzhou, like carved jade or teahouse of different theme. The people walking on the road or sitting at the windows can not distinguish they were enjoying the painting or in the painting.

With National Highway 318 and Provincial Highway 205 lies to the southwest and west of Tong li ancient town respectively, it sits besides the Taihu Lake and along the Grand Canal, 80 kilometers away from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, 18 kilometers away from Suzhou, and 6 kilometers from Wujiang. With convenient transport and advantaged geographical position, Suzhou is “an important path connecting Shanghai and Suzhou”. In such excellent place, you can appreciate the charm of the ancient town by enjoying the typical scene of “low bridge, running stream, cottage”, since Tongli scenic area consists of many lakes such as Pangshan Lake, Jiuli Lake, Tongli Lake, Nanxing Lake and Yeze Lake, which together encircle the Tong li ancient town. Tong li ancient town, built in the Song Dynasty, has a history of more than 1000 years. The name Tong li, which is pleasant to hear and easy to remember, originated from the two Chinese Characters “Fu” and “ tu”. During the Tang Dynasty, in order to get rid of the luxurious meaning it carried, people renamed it as “Tong li”(means within copper). Again, during the Song Dynasty, the two characters “Fu” and “Tu” was split and combined into “Tong li”, which survived a long history until now. In 1980, Tong li ancient town was designated to one of Taihu Lake National Scenic Spots, followed by its enlisting in province-level cultural relic protection units in 1982, and in province-level cultural relic protection towns in 1992, whereby its famous scenic spot the Retreat and Reflection Garden was enrolled into the World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO(Unite Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization). In 2010, Tongli Ancient Town was ranked as National 5A level tourist attraction.

Among one of the four most famous gardens of China, the Lingering Garden is located at the Liu Yuan Road outside the Changmen Gate of Suzhou, covering an area of 2.3 hectares. It was listed as cultural relics of national importance in 1961. Serving as a fine specimen of the classical gardens of Suzhou, the Lingering Garden was inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 1997. It was originally built by Xu Taishi in the reign of Wanli of Ming Dynasty (1593) . In the reign of Jiaqing of Qing Dynasty, it was renamed the Hanbi Villa by its second owner Liu Shu, boasting twelve erect peaks in the garden. At the end of the reign of Tongzhi, it was renovated by Sheng Xuanhuai and his father, and renamed the Lingering Garden, known as “Crown of Suzhou Gardens”. There are courtyards and buildings in the east, idealized landscape garden in the middle, wild woods and mountainous area in the west and pastoral scenery in the north. The Lingering Garden is famous for its artist way of dealing with spaces in architecture. Divide by halls, corridors, white-washed walls, and artistic doors, it offers tourists a rich and complicated viewing experience. The Cloud-Capped Peak, 6.5 meters high, is a piece of exquisitely carved limestone left behind from the Song Dynasty.

Renowned as “No. 1 water town in China”, Zhouzhuang ancient town was enlisted in UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List, and represents one of the first  ten historical and cultural towns in China, the first batch of National 5A level scenic spot, national famous tourism Towns, the first Chinese characteristic landscape tourism town. Besides, Zhouzhuang was rated as “World’s top 10 most beautiful small town” by CNN, and was named as “excellent global ecological area” by the United States. Zhouzhuang, an ancient water town in South China, is located at 120.86°E, 31.12°N. Lieing in the southwest of Kunshan City, Zhouzhuang stands over 60 kilometers away from its neighbor Shanghai to the east and 40 kilometers from Suzhou to the west.