Suzhou is a city on the lower reaches of the
Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of
Jiangsu, China. The city is renowned for its beautiful stone
bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens which have
contributed to its status as a great tourist attraction. It is
widely known as the “Chinese Venice”. Since the Song Dynasty
(960-1279), Suzhou has also been an important centre for China's
silk industry and continues to hold that prominent position today.
The city is part of the Yangtze River Delta region.
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.
In 514 BC, during the Spring and Autumn
Period, King Helu of Wu established "Great City of Helu", the
ancient name for Suzhou, as his capital. In 496 BC, Helu was buried
in Huqiu (Tiger Hill). In 473 BC Wu was defeated by Yue, a kingdom to
the east which was soon annexed by the Chu in 306 BC. The golden era
of Suzhou ended with this conquest. Remnants of this culture include
remainders of a 2,500 year old city wall and the gate through it at
Pan Gate. By the time of the Qin Dynasty,
the city was known as Wu County. Xiang Yu staged his historical
uprising here in 209 BC, which contributed to the overthrow of Qin. During the Sui Dynasty - in 589 AD - the city was renamed
Suzhou.
When the Grand Canal was completed, Suzhou found itself strategically
located on a major trade route. In the course of the history of
China, it has been a metropolis of industry and commerce on the
south-eastern coast of China. During the
Tang Dynasty (825 AD), the great poet Bai Juyi constructed the
Shantang Canal (called "Shantang Street" or to connect the city with
Huqiu for tourists. In 1035 AD, the temple of Confucius was founded
by famed poet and writer Fan Zhongyan . It became the venue for
imperial civil examinations.
In February 1130, the advancing Jin army from the north ransacked
and massacred the city. This was followed by the Mongol invasion
(1275).
In 1356, Suzhou became of the capital of
Zhang Shicheng, one of the leaders of the Red Turban Rebellion
against the Yuan Dynasty and the self-proclaimed King of Wu. In 1367
Zhang's main rival, Nanjing-based Zhu Yuanzhang took the city after
a 10-month siege. Zhu - who was soon to proclaim himself as the
first emperor of the Ming Dynasty - demolished the royal city (in
the centre of Suzhou's walled city), and imposed crushing taxes on
the city's and prefecture's powerful families.
Despite the heavy taxation and the
resettlement of some of Suzhou's prominent citizens' to the area of
Hongwu's capital, Nanjing, Suzhou soon was prosperous again. When in
1488 the shipwrecked Korean official Choe Bu had a chance to see
much of Eastern China - from Zhejiang to Liaoning - on his way home,
he described Suzhou in his travel report as exceeding every other
city in China he had seen. Many of the famous private gardens were
constructed by the gentry of the Ming and Qing dynasties. However,
the city was to see another disaster in 1860 when Taiping soldiers
advanced on and captured the city. In November 1863 the Ever
Victorious Army of Charles Gordon recaptured the city from the
Taiping forces.
The next crisis that met the city was the
Japanese invasion in 1937. Many gardens were devastated by the end
of the war. In the early 1950s, restoration was done on gardens such
as Zhuo-Zheng Yuan (Humble
Administrator's Garden) and Dong Yuan (East Garden) to bring
them back to life. Another important garden is Wangshiyuan (The Net Master's
Garden literally).
In 1981, this ancient city was listed by the
State Council, the PRC government, as one of four cities (the other
three being Beijing, Hangzhou and Guilin) where the
protection of historical and cultural heritage as well as natural
scenery should ideally be treated with utmost care.
The classical gardens in Suzhou were added
to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997 and 2000.
"A very great and noble city... It has 1600 stone bridges under
which a galley may pass." - Marco Polo
"Capital of Silk", "Land of
Abundance", "Gusu city", "Cradle of the Wu Culture", and "World of
Gardens", "Oriental Venice or Venice of the East"- nicknames of
Suzhou.
Other main attractions in Suzhou
Hanshan Temple
Lion Grove Garden
Take the advantage of your Shanghai tour and pay a side
trip to Suzhou to experience the beauty and quietness in this
world-famous City of Garden!
Back
to the Shanghai
tour packages that includes Suzhou.
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