One of the most remarkable Asian nations on our planet is China. Suzhou is a city that is one of the most famous in the Middle Kingdom. He is called the Chinese Venice because of its bewitching beauty. By the standards of China, this is a very small town located a hundred kilometers from Shanghai. It was founded a long time ago, back in 514 BC. Throughout its existence, Suzhou has repeatedly been the capital of ancient as well as medieval states during periods of fragmentation of the state. The comfortable location, healthy climate and the enchanting terrain of the metropolis attracted many wealthy people, so here you can see a huge number of beautiful old houses.
Interesting information about the city
Many interesting features are famous for China. Suzhou is one of them. The uniqueness of this city lies in the fact that it is located in the place where the Great Chinese Canal, which was dug in antiquity, intersects with the Yangtze River.
The city was built at the crossroads of giant waterways and is riddled with an innumerable network of different canals. Many prominent personalities have visited China at one time or another. In the 12th century, Suzhou was visited by the Venetian Marco Polo, who dubbed the settlement Chinese Venice. This nickname has been preserved to our times.
Numerous parks and gardens, as well as ancient architectural structures, have flooded Suzhou. Some of the oldest buildings are closed, others are open only to tourists, but each of the houses is a real masterpiece of landscape architecture. And each of the parks has a poetic name, for example, Tiger Hill and Garden of Harmony, Mountain Villa and Garden of the owner of the Network (meaning the Internet) and many others. Each of the names keeps a beautiful and amazing legend, which guides will tell visitors with great joy.
Old city street
Many sights are famous for China. Suzhou is a celestial attraction in which there are many of its famous sites. One of them is the ancient Shantan street. It is located in the northwestern part of the village. It starts near the Changmen city gate and continues to Hutsu Hill. The total length of the street is 3.6 thousand meters. Shantan was established at a time when the Tang Dynasty ruled the country , and thus, the history of the landmark dates back over 1100 years.
It is believed that the popular poet Bo Jui, who lived during the reign of the aforementioned dynasty, at one time held the post of mayor of the city. At this time, he decided to streamline the river, which was also called Shantan, and to put in order its river embankment along with it. All this was supposed to facilitate the convenient passage of city residents beyond its borders to Hutsu. Since then, Shantan Street has been paved, which served as a tourist and communication function.
Garden capital of the Middle Kingdom
Suzhou Gardens (China) is the city’s most famous landmark and a visiting card of the country. The gardens of the imperial officials of various dynasties have been known to people for many centuries. They have been an image of design art for many centuries. They adorned the village for hundreds of years, for artists and poets they were a source of inspiration, a model for copying ordinary people and emperors.
In these gardens, everything is done according to the laws of Feng Shui. These rules require the presence of large stones that represent mountains, pavilions (arbors), water and plants. This was a rigorous requirement, which must be respected. All reservoirs are of man-made origin. In each pond, goldfish swim, which, according to Chinese beliefs, bring good luck.
Each garden has a corner of "wild" nature. A note of romance in the landscape is brought by bridges, which are scattered everywhere. Zigzag paths and galleries are also paved in the gardens.
The gardens had their own history: they were transferred into the possession of various nobles, mutated, remade, united, faded, united and flourished again. Today, some of the sites are open-air museums displaying ancient Chinese garden art.
Temple of the Cold Mountain
The city of Suzhou in China is also known for the fact that it has many different Buddhist shrines. One of the oldest is the Cold Mountain Temple or Hanshan Temple. The history of this church exceeds 1400 years. Construction work on the construction of this monastery began when the Northern and Southern Dynasties ruled. This was the period when the city was part of the kingdom of Liang.
During the reign of the Tang clan, the rectors of the Temple of the Cold Mountain were two Buddhist monks Shide and Hanshan. Then the church still had no name, and it was necessary to invent it. But the guardian monks were so modest that they could not dare to name the future attraction in their honor. But once, an old woman met Buddhists who proposed to name the monastery in favor of the one who is the most intelligent. The victory went to Hanshan, who became the full rector of the object, and his name was immortalized in the name of the church.
Tiger mountain
Sights of Suzhou (China) are extremely popular among tourists. Mount Tiger, whose height reaches 36 meters, is particularly successful. It rises above the gate called Lumen, located in one of the oldest districts of the city. Here the king of the state of Wu Fu Chai once buried his father (Hal), along with three thousand sabers. The marvelous name of the mountain is explained by one beautiful legend: on the third day after Hal was buried, a white tiger came to his grave. The animal began to guard this place. From here arose such an intriguing name.
The only surviving gates
Once, Suzhou (China), the photo of which we see in the article, was decorated with 16 gates. Eight of them were terrestrial and eight were aquatic. But time has destroyed almost all of these objects. Only the Twisted Panmen Gate could survive to our present day.
For a long time they were part of the old city wall, erected in 514 BC. But they were destroyed by wars, and only in the XIV century the landmark was completely reconstructed and brought back to life. Already in our era, the Twisted Gate was also repaired in order to attract even more travelers.