Living in Suzhou - Travel

Sightseeing in and around Suzhou

Zhou Zhuang
Zhou Zhuang, one of the most famous sights in Suzhou which demonstrate the water township, is worth your visit. With a history of more than 900 years, Zhou Zhuang has been known as “township and the island? Characterized by the picturesque water county scenery--- a perfect combination of exquisite bridges, limpid riverlets and quaint houses.

There are more than 180 bridges dotted in the ancient city. Most of them have hundreds of years of history, with special styles and auspicious names.

In an area of half a square kilometer (124 acres), 60 percent of the Zhou Zhuang's structures were built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, which is from 1368 to 1911. Taking the most convenient form of transport in Zhou Zhuang, a gondola, presents some of the breathtaking sights one by one.

Admission fee: 60 yuan

Canglang Pavilion (Blue Wave Pavilion) 沧浪亿
Canglang Pavilion, located south of Suzhou, is the oldest garden among the existing classical gardens of Suzhou. The area used to be the private garden of a Prince of the Five Dynasties (907-960). During the Northern Song Dynasty, the scholar Su Zimei built a pavilion in this garden and named it Canglang Pavilion. The garden has been rebuilt many times but most of the present garden buildings, simple and plain, date from the Qing Dynasty.

Covering an area of 10,656 m2 , the garden, connected by a long roofed walkway, features a range of man-made mountains on the inside and waterscapes on the outside. To enter the garden, one must proceed past an expanse of water over a zigzag bridge of stone and through the entrance. It is at this point that one catches sight of a man-made mountain covered with age-old trees and bamboo.

Canglang Pavilion, in the shape of a square, stands at the top of the mountain. A parallel couplet on its stone pillars reads: “The refreshing breeze and the bright moon are priceless, the nearby water and the distant mountains strike a sentimental note.?A double- corridor built by the canal lies to the north of the garden, unifying the waterscapes outside with the garden and “mountain scenery?inside.

Lingering Garden 留园
Situated outside the Cang Gate of Suzhou city, the garden was built in the 21st year of the reign of Wanli ( 1583 A .D.) by Xu Taishi, a bureaucrat, as his private garden-residence and named East Garden. According to the famous writer Yuan Hongdao (1568 - 1610) in his “A Record of Gardens? the East Garden at that time “has magnificent multi-storey houses in the front and halls in the rear, and a range of awe-inspiring stone mountains built by the well-known master Zhou Bingzhong, resembling a long scroll of landscape painting.?

Later the garden belonged to the Liu family in the 59th year of the reign of Qianlong ( 1794 A .D.) and was expanded, repaired, and renamed “the Hanbi Villa? while popularly known as “Liu Garden? In the 12th year of the reign of Tongzhi ( 1873 A .D.), it was purchased, expanded and repaired by the Shengs, who gave it a new name “Lingering Garden ? since “lingering?in Chinese sounds similar to “Liu? the surname of the former owner.

Today the garden is separated into the eastern, central, northern and western parts. The central part features a man-made mountain and lakeside scene, resembling a long scroll of traditional Chinese painting. The eastern part is noted for its joyous groupings of garden courts and elegant buildings, the western part for the enchantment of woody hills, and the northern part for cottages with bamboo fences and idyllic scenes.

An artificial hill made from Taihu rock is always the main component of Suzhou gardens. The 6.5-meter-high Cloud-Capped Peak in this garden, as the highest limestone in classical gardens of Suzhou, is believed to have been left behind by the imperial collector of the Northern Song Dynasty. Weighing about 5 tons, the limestone is supposed to have been carried from Taihu Lake, 40kms away.

The number of stelea in the Lingering Garden has never been surpassed by any other garden in Suzhou. Masterfully inscribed with the works of over 100 calligraphers in the Jin, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, these priceless stelea illustrate the evolutionary course of Chinese calligraphy during the past 1,000 years.

Garden of the Master of the Nets 网师园
Sometimes the smallest package can contain the most magnificent gift. The Garden of the Master of the Nets is a clear example of this. It is the smallest of the Suzhou residential gardens, yet it is the most impressive because of its use of space which creates the illusion of an area that is much greater than its actual size. Even more than the architectural achievement is the mood of tranquility and harmony that this humble garden embodies.

This exquisite garden was first designed during the Song Dynasty (960 - 12794) as part of a residence that was used until the Taiping Rebellion in the 1860' s. It was later restored and became the residence of a government official from whom the garden gets its name. It is said that in a moment of frustration with bureaucracy he declared that he would rather be a fisherman than a bureaucrat.

The garden is divided into three sections: a residential section, the central main garden and an inner garden. The main garden has a large pond that is surrounded by pathways and a variety of buildings such as the Ribbon Washing Pavillion, and the Pavillion for the advent of the Moon and Wind. There are many more buildings that are situated so that there is never a sense of crowding, but always of spaciousness.
As is common in Suzhou gardens, the pond has a small pavilion in it. Here the pavilion is accessible by a bridge that is less than one foot wide.

The various buildings are constructed so that you can always access the main garden from any room. The rooms themselves are quite impressive in design and ornamentation and well represent the style of the Song Dynasty.The inner garden which is only about 660 square feet, has the distinction of being used as the model for the Ming Hall Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and also completely miniaturized for an exhibit in the Pompidou Center in Paris in 1982. This garden is reputed to be the most well-preserved garden in Suzhou and should not be missed. It is small in size, but is like a beautifully cut diamond whose beauty is of never ending fascination and pleasure.

Tiger Hill 虎丘
Su Dongpo, literary master of the Song Dynasty once remarked, “It's a thing for regret to visit Suzhou without seeing the Tiger Hill? This saying is so popular that Tiger Hill has become a “must?on the itinerary of every visitor to Suzhou. Known as “the most famous place in Wuzhong? Tiger Hill also has two other names: “Surg ing Sea Hill?or “Surging Sea Peak? To visit this captivating and historic place, you travel 3.5 kilometers from the Chang Gate at the northwest suburbs of Suzhou.

Formed about 150,000,000 years ago, Tiger Hill is 36 meters high and 630 meters in perimeter with a total area of 20 hectare (200,000 sq. meters). Tiger Hill's history is entwined with that of the ancient city of Suzhou, and both can be traced back 2,500 years. How it received its name is an interesting story. It is recorded that in 496 B.C., during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C-476 B.C.), Wu King Helu died in a war between the Wu Kingdom and the Yue Kingdom and was buried by his son under what we now call Tiger Hill along with all of his swords, which were of exceptional quality and beauty. According to the Historian, three days after the burial of Wu King Helu, people found a white tiger squatting on the tomb, hence the name Tiger Hill. Tiger Hill has experienced the rise and the fall of history for more than 2,400 years. During the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317 -420 A .D.), Tiger Hill changed from being the burial tomb for kings into a Buddhist hill when a temple was built there. This long history has given us a great legacy of impressive artifacts and significant relics which include: ancient carvings, horizontal inscribed boards, couplets and the poems of celebrities, various carved scenes, paintings, calligraphy, and prose writings. It would be exceedingly difficult to find a place anywhere else in the world that can easily match the scope of Tiger Hills' generous legacy.

Sword Testing Stone 试剑石
This rock has a split within it that appears to have been cut by a sword. The legend says that it was cracked by Wu King Helu, who tested all of his swords on this stone. Although the king was buried with 3,000 swords, the secret of his swords and his exact burial place cannot be found because all of the 1,000 workers who built the tomb were killed after the tomb's completion.

Tomb of the True Lady 贞娘墓
This is the tomb of Hu Ruizhen, a beautiful and virtuous lady of the late Tang Dynasty (618 -907A .D.) who was also skilled at singing and verse. She committed suicide by hanging herself when a bad procuress forced Hu Ruizhen to ingratiate herself with a visitor. A pavilion was subsequently built next to her tomb in memory of this special lady.

Broken Beam Hall 断梁殿
Popularly known as “the Second Entrance Gate? it was first built in the Tang Dynasty and rebuilt in 1338 AD. during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368AD). Its principal beam consists of two pieces of round timbers that demonstrate the skill and wisdom of the ancient Chinese architects and builders

Lion Forest Garden 狮子林
Lion Grove Garden (Shizilin) is located on 23 Yuanlin Road, in the northeast of Suzhou-a city with profound cultural background and convenient developmental advantages. Lion Grove Garden is one of the four most famous and representative gardens of ancient classical style in Suzhou City.