A Brief Introduction

Suzhou, a city in eastern China's Jiangsu Province, is considered as beautiful as the paradise. A major tourist city, it features classic gardens and elegant  natural scenery. 

Location

 It is situated by the Taihu Lake in the southern part of Jiangsu Province, in the Yangtze River Delta. With Shanghai to its east and Zhejiang Province to its south, Suzhou has a well-developed communication network and can be easily reached from all parts of China.

Geographic Features

Of the 8,488 square  kilometers of territory under the city's jurisdiction,  about 10 percent is cultivated farmland; 30 percent is hilly land, and the rest is covered by waters or low terrains. Its average altitude is 4 meters above sea level. The city is famed as the Oriental Venice because it is a water city with numerous rivers, lakes and canals, such as the Yangtze River, Yangcheng Lake, Chenghu Lake and the Grand Canal. Major hills in the area include Lingyan, Tianping, Tiger (Huqiu) and Yushan.

Population

It has a population of 5.71 million, including the various ethnic groups of Han, Hui, and Manchu, 1.05 million of the people living in urban areas.

History

It was established as a settlement in 514 B.C., known as Gusu; in 581 during the Sui Dynasty, it was renamed Suzhou.

Climate

On the north edge of the subtropical zone, Suzhou has monsoon maritime climate, with mildly cold winter and humid summer. Its annual average temperature is 15.7°C.
 
Local Highlights

 Besides classic gardens, Suzhou is also famous for Kunqu Opera and Pingtan (ballad-singing in Suzhou dialect). Among the local products, there are silk; handicrafts such as embroidery, fans, traditional Chinese musical instruments, lanterns, furniture, jade carving, silk tapestry, traditional painting pigments, New Year pictures of wood-block prints, etc; and big-gate crabs from Yangcheng Lake.

Transportation

Suzhou is conveniently located on the Jinghu Railway linking Shanghai and Nanjing, the provincial capital, to both of which there is hourly railway service. Suzhou Railway Station is among the busiest passenger stations in China, having 139 trains stopping daily. T-Trains only take 45 minutes to Shanghai and an hour and half to Nanjing. Driving options include the Jiangsu-Shanghai Expressway, the Yangtze Riverine Expressway, the Suzhou-Jiaxin-Hangzhou Expressway. In 2005, the new Suzhou Outer Ring was completed, linking the peripheral county-level cities of Taicang, Kunshan, and Changshu. By water, Suzhou is connected with Zhangjiagang, Luzhi, Liujia and Changshou.

Although Shuofang Airport and Guangfu United Airlines Airport serve as two municipal airports, and the State Council approved of the construction of an airport exclusively serving Suzhou in 2003, air transportation from Suzhou continues to be at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport in Shanghai.