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Suzhou, lying in the middle of Yangtze River Delta and the south of Jiangsu Province, at 120°37'E and 31°39'N, is adjacent to Shanghai to the east, bounded on the south by Zhejiang Province, on the brink of Wuxi to the west and fringing on the Yangtze River in the north.The total area of Suzhou is 8488 km2, among which plains occupy 55%, water, 42%, and hilly areas, 3%. It is a world-known water city with numerous canals and lakes, including the Grand Canal passing the city from the north to the south.
Ever since its formation in 514 BC, Suzhou has always been the political, cultural, and economical center of the southern lower reaches of the Yangtze River. With its prosperous commerce and a galaxy of talents, it enjoys the reputation of being a "paradise in man's world". The old city proper, with its area of 14.2 km2, has a history of 2500 years and is still retaining its unique feature of rivers paralleling lanes, and waters flowing under bridges. The classical gardens in Suzhou, which have been listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Property, are people's intelligent creation of beautiful living circumstance and city environment, representing the national features of the perfect combination of architectural function, structure and art.
Recently, Suzhou's urban reconstruction has assumed a structure of what is know as "a body with two wings", which means the ancient city proper in the middle with Suzhou-Singapore Industrial Park to the east and Suzhou New & Hi-tech District to the west. Under the policy of protecting the historical and cultural properties of the ancient city proper while devoting major efforts to developing its economy, not only have the world heritage and the ancient city proper developed effectively, but Suzhou's economy has also been developed greatly. As a result, the municipal GDP of 2002 reached $25.4 billion (the per capita GDP being $4300) and an annual revenue of $3.54 billion was fulfilled, thus making Suzhou one of the country's most important coastal cities with intense cultural and tourist activities and an export-oriented economy.(Source: 28whc.org)
Gardens in Suzhou
The Chinese consider gardens a serious art form and as with painting, sculpture and poetry aim to attain in their design the balance, harmony, proportion and variety that are considered essential to life.
The classical gardens are the re-creation of the splendors of natural scenery through the processes of the decoration of land by planting trees, shrubs and flowers, and designing and materializing mountains and watercourses.
Editor: Wing |
