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Suzhou Brief

Houses surrounded by water in Humble Administration GardenSuzhou is located in the center of the Yangtze Delta, in the south of Jiangsu Province and near to Shanghai. 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 prior project. Now the city covers a total area of 8,488 square kilometers with a population of about 5.8 million (1.1 million in the city proper). It is known for its impressive historical gardens and many of them had been listed by the UNESCO.

Built in 514 BC, Suzhou is an ancient city with 2500 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.

The gardens in Suzhou obtain 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 Zhouzhuang in Spring Lingering Garden, the Garden of Master of Nets.

Rating alongside these classical gardens are the exquisite water townships in Suzhou. Zhouzhuang, Mudu, Tongli Town are beautiful water towns that known by the world. In any water township of Suzhou, a number of preserved buildings of Ming and Qing dynasty can be found.  Suzhou is a key silk production centre in China and the embroidery school here is ranked in the "top 4" for the whole of China. The attractiveness of Suzhou is also evident in its performing arts (folk songs of Wu), Kunqu Opera and storytelling, as well as stelle carving, calligraphy and painting.

As one of the famous tourist cities in China, Suzhou has made a great improvement to its basic facilities and tourist functions. Include the facilities of traffic, hotel, restaurant, etc. The local delicious should not be forgotten in one’s journey. There are many characteristic cuisine in this old city.