SUZHOU
Suzhou is located in the south of Jiangsu province, some
50 miles west of Shanghai, along the ancient Grand Canal.
The city has been famous for its gardens for many centuries.
According to a Chinese proverb says: "In heaven there
is paradise. On earth there are Suzhou and Hangzhou."
Suzhou has also long been noted for its beautiful women.
The city is dotted with lakes and rivers connected by
the large web of canals, which are lined up with whitewashed
houses with gray-tiled roofs. Suzhou is one |
|
of the oldest towns
in the Yangtse basin. It was founded in the fifth century
B.C., when the King of Wu, He Lu, made it the capital of his
Kingdom. The King was said being buried on Tiger Hill after
his death, which later became a well-known landmark. The town
of Suzhou inherited its current name in 589 AD in the Sui
Dynasty, and underwent considerable development in the Tang
and Song dynasties. As early as the Song Dynasty, Suzhou was
about the same size as it is today. Many of the famous gardens
built as early as the 10th century are still intact, and some
have been restored to their former beauty. A visit to these
gardens could be one of the highlights of one's visit to China.
In 1997, the UNESCO put Humble Administrator's Garden, the
Garden to Linger In, Fishing-Net Master's Garden, and Circular-Grace
Mountain Villa on its world cultural heritage site list. Humble
Administrator's Garden and Fishing-Net Master's Garden are
open at night so that visitors can attend theatrical performances
and enjoy the night scenery.
The
Grand Canal
All of the
narrow rivers in Suzhou are eventually joined up with
the famous waterway known as the Grand Canal, located
to the west of the city. It is believed to be the longest
internal waterway in the world, and was originally constructed
from Beiing to Hangzhou for the transportation of tribute
grain from the southern part of China to the northern
capital of Beijing. Marco Polo, who visited Suzhou in
the 13th century, wrote that "the people has made
a huge canal of great width and depth from river to
river and from lake to lake and made the water flow
along it so that it looks like a big river. By this
means it is possible to go ... as far as Khan-balik"
(as Beijing was known in the Yuan Dynasty). Although
the canal is not used for long-distance transport today,
it is still heavily used by a great number of flat-bottomed
boats going along the Grand Canal for all kinds of transportation
in the southern part of China.
|
Lingering
Garden
Lingering
Garden is the best garden in Suzhou and one of the four
major gardens in China. It is celebrated for its artistic
way
of dealing with the small space with various kinds of
architectural forms. The garden was built in the year
of Wanli (1583 AD) of the Ming dynasty as a private
garden within the residence and named East Garden, Which
has magnificent multi-storied front houses and rear
halls, as well as a range of awe-inspiring stone mountains
resembling a long scroll of landscape painting."
Later the garden belonged to the Liu's family during
the reign of Qianlong (1794 A.D.) of the Qing dynasty.
The Owner of the garden was changed later but the name
of Lingering Garden was given as the sound of Lingering
is similar like Liu in Chinese pronunciation. Today
the garden is separated with four parts. The middle
part features the man-made hills and lakes, the eastern
part is noted for its garden courts and elegant buildings,
while the western part is the woody hills, and the cottages
with bamboo fences and idyllic scenes are in the north
of the garden.
|
Garden
of Master of the Nets
Garden of
the Master of the Nets, covering an area of 5400 sqm,
is the smallest garden in Suzhou. The garden was laid
out during the Song dynasty (960-1279), abandoned, and
then restored in the 18th century as part of the residence
of a retired official. It was said that the official
was tired with the bureaucracy and would rather be a
fish-man, hence its name. Being the most exquisite and
the best-preserved private garden in Suzhou, the garden
is divided into three parts, includes the residential
area with guest reception and living quarters, the main
garden and the inner garden where the studio and the
master's study located.
Constructed
in accordance with the strict regulations of feudalism,
they are magnificent buildings with extraordinary furnishing
and interior decoration with each hall connected to
the main garden. There is also a small pond covering
an area of only 440 sqm with a tiny arch bridge named
Yinjing Bridge built at one side. The most striking
feature of this Garden is small in size, but contains
with everything that can be seen only in the larger
royal gardens, which might also be the feature of Suzhou
itself.
|
Garden
of the Humble Administrator
China's
gardens generally can be divided into two kinds, the
royal garden, represented by the Summer Palace in Beijing
and the Mountain Resort of Chengde, while for the private
gardens, the best ones can be only seen in Suzhou. The
Garden of the Humble Administrator, with a total area
of 51,950 sqm, is the largest private garden in Suzhou,
and also one of the four most famous classic gardens
in China. It was built in 1513 of the Ming dynasty by
a retired high ranked official Wang Xianchen, who named
this garden by following the essay "To cultivate
my garden and sell my vegetables is the policy of humble
man".
The feature
of the garden is Focused on a central pond with pavilions,
terraces, chambers, and towers located nearby, the garden
is divided into three parts. The middle part is the
cream of the garden with marvelous mountains, clear
water, exquisite buildings and exuberant trees and flower
reminiscent of the scenery in the south of China. Elaborately
conceived, the designer of the garden used the concept,
"borrowed view from afar" in the layout of
this part, aiming to enlarge eyeshot within a limited
space. Looking westward, a pagoda can be seen sitting
in the western garden, which actually is situated 1km
away from the garden. There are about 700 bonsais put
on display in the west garden, which is worth visiting
to most of the tourists. The Humble Administrator's
Garden is a typical example of the art of horticulture
in south of Yangtze River as well as a treasure house
containing arts of architecture, calligraphy, carving,
painting, and bonsai.
|
Tiger
Hill
Tiger Hill,
or Hu Qiu, a few miles northwest of Suzhou, is very
popular among visitors. It is supposedly the burial
place of the King of Wu. Two different reasons are given
for the name of the hill. One is that the entrance gate
resembles the mouth of a tiger, and the pagoda on the
top of the hill its tail. The other is that when the
King of Wu was buried on top of the hill, a tiger is
said to have appeared there. On top of the hill is an
imposing structure--the pagoda of the Cloud Rock Temple
built in 961. It is listed as one of the special historical
sites under State protection. The temple courtyard is
the highest point on the hill and commands a grand view.
|
Gold
Mountain Temple
The temple
is located in the outskirts of Suzhou on a small canal
crossed by an old humpbacked bridge. Green foliage hangs
down over the saffron walls. The beautiful scenery has
inspired many poets throughout history to write memorable
poems. In fact, it owes its fame due to the poem "Overnight
Stay at Feng Qiao" written by Zhang Ji, a Tang
Dynasty poet. The temple's name came from the hermit
Han Shan, a Buddhist poet of the Tang Dynasty.
Suzhou embroidery
Institute Suzhou Embroidery Research Institute in the
Circular-Grace Garden is staffed with a team of top-notch
embroidery masters in the tradition of one of China's
four eminent schools of embroidery.
|
Panmen
City Gate
Panmen is
the oldest city gate in existence in Suzhou and the
only one on a river-the oldest section of the Grand
anal dug 2,500 years ago. Nearby stands Ruiguang (Auspicious
Light) Pagoda, which has a history of 1,000 years. The
city gate and the pagoda together form the most distinctive
section of the wall of the ancient city of Suzhou.
|
|