Ancient Suzhou is one of the most famous cities in the Middle Kingdom. And without a doubt - one of the most beautiful. This is a city on the water, "Chinese Venice". The streets here are canals, through which old stone bridges are thrown. Founded in the 6th century BC, the city was constantly developing and improving. Therefore, today the list of things to see in Suzhou is almost endless. The entire historical center, perfectly preserved and monumental, has been included by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Every building is worthy of attention here. Each pagoda is a witness to ancient history. Each garden is stunningly romantic and beautiful.
Suzhou is proud of its craft and trade traditions, its cultural heritage, monuments of architecture and religion. He is also proud of the skill of his pastry chefs. According to connoisseurs, the world's most delicious "Moon Pies" are made in Suzhou.
TOP 10 attractions in Suzhou
Gardens and parks
The main attraction of Suzhou is its many parks and gardens. All of them are equipped strictly according to the laws of feng shui. Moreover, each is unique, each has its own special story. Here are the most famous ones:
- Garden of Blue Waves. This is the oldest park in Suzhou. It was built in 1041 by the influential city dweller and poet Su Shunqing. The zest of the garden is how skillfully natural splendor and traditional Chinese buildings are combined here: pavilions, a temple, corridors under roofs, gazebos, bridges.
- The humble official's garden. The largest garden in the city, built in the 15th century, occupies 5 hectares. There are many pavilions, several dozen steles, a huge lake with blooming lotuses, alleys with valuable tree species and rare flowers.
- Stone Lions Garden. Its peculiarity is a huge variety of bizarre stones collected in incredibly beautiful sculptural groups.
- Garden of the master of networks. This is the smallest garden in the city. Nevertheless, it is under state protection and is included in the UNESCO cultural heritage list. This garden is a real masterpiece of natural park architecture.
- Li Yuan Garden (or Meditation Garden). This is another object from the UNESCO list. It features perfect landscaping, zoning, a pond system and unusual sculptures.
Tiger hill
Tiger hill
According to legend, Tiger Hill hides the grave of one of the great Chinese emperors of the Wu dynasty beneath it, and the entrance to the tomb is guarded by the White Tiger. However, until now, archaeologists have not been able to find either the burial ground on the hill, or the richest collection of the emperor's weapons, buried at the bottom of the clean and beautiful Sword Lake, located nearby.
The main building on Tiger Hill is the Yunyan Falling Pagoda, a symbol of Suzhou. The 7-storey pagoda was built in 961, and gradually began to deviate from the axis in the 17th century. For this feature, it is often compared to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Among other interesting monuments on the territory of the hill are the Sword Testing Stone, the Well of the Tea Sage, the Wanjing Pavilion with a rich collection of bonsai trees, the Hall of Contemplation of Peaks and Cypresses, the Hall of Praise to the Swallow, and the Hall of Thick Clouds.
Zhouzhuang - East Venice
Zhouzhuang
Zhouzhuang, one of the most beautiful cities in the world, is located 30 km from Suzhou, on the Jinghang Canal. The city breathes with romance. Ancient buildings of the Song Dynasty, graceful white-stone bridges over water, luxurious mansions with curved tiled roofs, narrow cobbled streets, twisted arches - all this makes the city unlike other ancient Chinese cities. About 60% of city buildings have been preserved in their original form, and residents are still actively using water routes instead of roads.
In the evenings, when thousands of illumination lights flicker and reflect in the water, Zhouzhuang turns into a magical kingdom.
Han Shan (Cold Mountain Temple)
Hanshan
Han Monastery is the oldest Buddhist shrine in Suzhou. It was built in the 6th century and owes its name to the abbot, the monk Han Shan, a lover of intoxicating drinks and an eccentric poet, whose works have even been translated into European languages.
The temple was built in a very romantic place - on the banks of the river, surrounded by old plane trees. During its existence, it was destroyed many times due to fires and rebuilt again. The buildings that we see now are from the Qin dynasty.
Today it is one of the most popular places to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Thousands of people come here on New Year's Eve to listen to the famous Hanshan bell and pray for happiness in the coming year.
Panmen gate
Panmen Gate
The only one of the 16 ancient Suzhou gates that has survived to this day is Panmen, a twisted gate that was once part of the ancient city wall. The age of this wall is about two and a half thousand years. Over time, as a result of internecine wars, the gates were destroyed, but in the 14th century they were restored. In recent years, the Chinese authorities have invested several million dollars in the reconstruction of the gate and the surrounding area. At the top of the gate is again engraved with a coiled dragon guarding the entrance.
Inside the Panmen Gate, you can see the Pagoda of Good Light, which is 1000 years old. The rarest Buddhist pearl stupa that was once kept in this pagoda can be seen today in the Suzhou City Museum.
Suzhou City Museum
Suzhou City Museum
The main museum for the city with 2.5 thousand years of history was designed by the very famous architect Yeo Min Pei, a Harvard graduate, a student of Walter Gropius (founder of the Bauhaus), one of the first laureates of the most prestigious among architects, the Pritzhek Prize, the author of the Louvre pyramid.
The museum is unique in its architecture. It surprisingly harmoniously combines ancient Chinese traditions and futurism, nature and art. The museum complex is inscribed in the historical center and is the pearl of the old city. The building with unusual geometric shapes is made in traditional Suzhou white and gray colors, and there is a garden with a large pond and gazebos around.
Inside the museum, water flows down the walls. This once again reminds of the three main elements for the Chinese - stone, water and plants. A separate gallery in the museum is dedicated to the Suzhou gardens.
The museum's collection is strikingly rich. There are about 30,000 artifacts here, 250 of which belong to the national treasures of the first level. More than a thousand relics belong to the prehistoric era, there are many artifacts from the times of the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are dishes made of the finest Chinese porcelain, clay and bronze figurines, ivory figurines, ancient jade ornaments. The main exhibits are the priceless, lotus-shaped Olive Green Bowl from the Five Dynasties and the Pearl Pillar of the Song Dynasty Buddhist Temple.
Temple of the Sacrament
Temple of the Sacrament
In the heart of Suzhou, there is a rare architectural gem - the Temple of Mystery, one of the few Taoist temples in China. It was built in 276 and over the 1700 years of its existence it was destroyed and rebuilt several times. Now the Temple of the Sacrament is included in the list of National Architectural Monuments of China.
The main pavilion of the temple - San Qing Dian (Hall of the Pure Trinity) - has been preserved in its original form. It is the only wooden temple structure from the Southern Song Dynasty that has survived to this day. Its double roof rests on 60 columns, and inside you can see four hieroglyphs, which the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty personally painted on a board, as well as statues of gods 7 meters high, made of clay and covered with gilding. In the courtyard of the temple there is an incense burner, in which the candles do not burn, but smolder.
Silk museum
Silk museum
How highly the silk masters from Suzhou have been valued since ancient times can be judged by the fact that only here were made outfits for the imperial families of the Celestial Empire. The Silk Museum, opened in 1991, aims to introduce visitors to the centuries-old history of silk production in Suzhou. After all, the city owes its prosperity to silk.
Various expositions of the museum show the whole process as it was in antiquity - from the processing of silkworm cocoons to the manufacture of weightless materials. The collection of the museum contains ancient tools and looms, a rare collection of silk fabrics, fans, robes, scarves and shoes. Many exhibits were made in a single copy.
There is a trade pavilion at the museum where you can buy very high quality silk products.
Sutun bridge
The ultra-modern Sutong cable-stayed bridge spanning the Yangtze River is one of the most unusual sights in Suzhou, very popular with tourists. Sutun is one of the 50 most amazing bridges on Earth and is considered one of the best bridges in Asia.
Some facts about Sutun Bridge:
- bridge length - 8206 meters;
- pylon height - 306 meters;
- central span length - 1088 meters;
- the bridge was built in just 3 years (2005-2008);
- $ 1.7 billion was invested in the construction.
The Sutun Bridge looks especially impressive at night, when the magnificent illumination is turned on.
Twin pagodas
Twin pagodas
The 33-meter twin pagodas are visible from afar. The extraordinarily slender and beautiful 7-storey Pagoda of Valor and the Pagoda of Goodwill were erected in 982, during the Song Dynasty. According to the architects of that time, two absolutely identical towers were supposed to stand on both sides of the entrance to the Buddhist temple of Banjuo. The temple was destroyed in the 19th century, only the foundation and bas-reliefs remained from it. But the pagodas are more fortunate. True, due to an error of the restorers in the middle of the 20th century, one of them became shorter by 40 cm, but this defect is almost invisible. The restorers succeeded in the main thing - to restore the historical monument in its original form.
The main feature of the Paired Pagodas is that each of them is crowned with a metal spire, the length of which is ¼ of the total height of the tower. Today, the Paired Pagodas are recognized as a classic example of 10th century Eastern architecture.
