"Paradise above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below." - Chinese saying
"A very great and noble city... It has 1600 stone bridges under which a galley may pass." - Marco Polo
"Paradise above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below." - Chinese saying
History
Suzhou, the cradle of Wu culture, is one of the oldest towns in the Yangtze Basin. 2500 years ago in the late Shang Dynasty, local tribes who named themselves "Gou Wu" lived in the area which would become the modern city of Suzhou.
Culture
Chinese opera: Kunqu originates in the Suzhou region, as does the much later Suzhou Opera. Ballad-singing, or Suzhou pingtan, is a local form of storytelling that mixes singing (accompanied by the pipa and sanxian) with portions in spoken dialect.
Silk
Handicrafts: Suzhou embroidery, fans, national musical instruments, scroll mounting, lanterns, mahogany furniture, jade carving, silk tapestry, traditional painting pigments of Jiangenxutang Studio, the New Year’s wood-block prints of Taohuawu Studio.
Suzhou is the original place of "Jasmine", a song sung by Chinese singers or actresses thousands of times on the occasions of almost every important meetings or celebrations. Jasmine is also the symbol of Suzhou as well as Tai Hu Lake.
Suzhou Gardens: Gardens in Suzhou have an ancient history. The first garden in Suzhou belonged to the emperor of Wu State in Spring and Autumn Period (BC 600). More than 200 gardens existed in Suzhou between 16th century and 18th century. Gardens in Suzhou were built according to the style of Chinese Paintings. Every view in a garden can be seen as a piece of Chinese Painting and the whole garden is a huge piece of Chinese Paintings. At present, the Humble Administrator’s Garden, built in 16th, is the largest private garden in Suzhou. It belonged to by Wang Xianchen, an imperial censor.
Food
Suzhou is the centre of eastern China food culture. Emperor Qianlong used to award Suzhou as the No.1 city to find delicious food.
Bar
The most popular bar street now in Suzhou is Changxu Road. Most of bar there are slow bar. Besides, there are some new bars open in the Golden Rooster Lake industry district. If you have a chance to visit Suzhou, do not miss the bars in that soft city.
Tours in Suzhou