Lingering Garden is a renowned Chinese classical garden, located in Suzhou City. In 1997, the garden, along with other classical gardens in Suzhou, was recorded by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

Lingering Garden or Liu Yuan is located outside Changmen, northwest of Suzhou. It was first built in Wanli 21st year (1593), Ming Dynasty. Then retired Xu Taish invited stone master Zhou Shicheng to design and build a private garden, and named it “East Garden”. In Jiaqing 3rd year (1798), Qing Dynasty, Liu Shu had it rebuilt on the desolated relic of East Garden. He named it “Cold Green Village” after the verse “clean cold color of bamboo, limpid green light of water”.Meanwhile, it was also called Liu Yuan due to the surname of the owner. From Daoguang’s 3rd year (1823), the garden was open to public, and became a famed resort.

During Taiping era, however, the garden perished gradually, due to the chaos of war and lack of attention. In Tongzhi 12th year(1873), Sheng Kang, a provincial treasurer of Hubei (father of Sheng Xuanhuai), purchased this garden, and spent three years greatly renovating and expanding it. Finally the reconstruction was completed in Guangxu 2nd year(1876), and it was renamed Liu Yuan,homophonous to the old name.

However, during Sino-Japanese War, the garden was abandoned again, and it even degenerated into breeding zone for army’s horses. After establishment of the People’s Republic of China, Suzhou government took over and renovated the garden. It was reopened to the public in 1954.

Lion Forest Garden

Compactly yet harmoniously spaced, the Lion Forest Garden has a prominent part for series of man-made mountains with various buildings around the lake, and an artificial waterfall and cliffs at the edge of the lake on the west. Remains of the 14th century man-made mountains, covering 1,152 sq.m. and being the largest of all in Suzhou, can still be seen today. Noted for its labyrinthine mountains with winding pathways and caverns, old pines and cypress trees, awesome peaks and jogged rocks of grotesque shapes resembling dancing lions with striking and unusual poses, it possesses with pride the true delights of mountain and forest scenery in limited space.

Since ancient times, Suzhou has been named as “Land of Fish and Rice”, for its abundant special local product and mild natural condition, such as Yangcheng-Lake Crab, Pilochum, Silk fans, etc. As time flies, Suzhou is getting more and more modern, attracting a lot of international brands which are popular among people. Combined western style with eastern, Suzhou is a city full of shopping fun.

What to shop

Suzhou Silk Fans

In China, there are two authentic places to buy fans; Suzhou and Hangzhou. The variety and selection of fans available in both these cities is incredible and they make a beautiful gift for yourself or someone else. The folding fan (or sandalwood fan) is very elegant. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty this type of fan became fashionable in Suzhou and was mass produced for visiting aristocrats and artists who bought the fans to cool themselves or just to pose with!

The surface of the fan is made from a very delicate rice paper. Some fans are painted with intricate pictures of scenery. Suzhou also produces “Gong” or silk fans. Originally, only noblewomen were permitted to use silk fans! Till the Tang Dynasty, standards slipped a little and the fan became very fashionable and popular. There are many different types of silk fan including the hand painted silk fan, the single sided embroidered fan, the double sided embroidered and the dyed silk fan. Most are round in shape but a few more unusual ones are styled to resemble plum blossom or lotus leaves. The handles of the fans are usually made of bamboo, hardwood, animal bones or ivory. These fans can be bought all over the city in most of the tourist shops. For the best prices try the city Night Market near the Temple of Mystery.

Suzhou Style Bonsai

Suzhou is a city known for its long history and cultural tradition. Its achievements in classical landscape architecture over the past dynasties and the paintings of the Suzhou School in Ming have provided a constant source of inspiration for its potted landscape gardening to draw on.

Tree stumps are used as chief material in Suzhou’s potted landscape gardening. Some of them are decades or even hundreds of years old and their branches have withered and crooked, given a strange and picturesque look by the workings of Nature. Some even seem to be dead and rotten and are regarded as useless. However, transplanted in pots and handled carefully, they will put forth green and luxuriant foliage. Hanging low or shooting upwards, many are beautiful by nature and have a high decorative value. Put in old-looking pots and stands, they are given a flavor of antiquity. Hence the unique classic elegance and simplicity of Suzhou’s potted landscape, which are both life-like and artistically suggestive.

Dating far back to Tang and Sung Dynasties and flourishing in Ming and Qing Dynasties, Suzhou’s potted landscape gardening has continued to develop in our times. Early in Qing, it already attained the artistic standards of traditional Chinese landscape painting.

Suzhou Embroidery

Suzhou embroidery is one of the four famous embroideries in China with a history of more than 2,000 years. Suzhou embroidery enjoyed an enable reputation for its elegant, neat characteristics and excellent craftsmanship. Suzhou embroidery is flat and smooth on surface, neat, well stitched and even, and bright in color and has attained a high artistic level. Suzhou embroidery works have been exhibited in more than a hundred countries and regions, and have attracted thousands of spectators who have highly praised the exquisite workmanship and reputed the Suzhou embroidery as the pearl of the orient art. It includes double-face embroidery, single-face embroidery, random-stitch embroidery and some other hand-woven needlecrafts.

The double-sided embroidery has high reputation for its superb patterns, tasteful colors and matchless execution. It is a gem among the embroidery arts with its vivid and absolutely lifelike themes. Embroidered works are highly complex works today. Some masterpiece like the portrait of the Queen of the U.K took the embroidery several months using ten-odd stitches and silk threads in more than a thousand different colors to complete. The best known pattern of perfection in Suzhou embroidery are kitten and gold fish, the artist use 20 different colored silk threads to embroider one eye of a cat and splits the hair-thin colored silk thread into 48 filaments to embroider the tail of a gold fish.

Where to shop

Guanqian Street

Guanqian Street, a one-century business street, has gathered a great many shops of a century’s standing, which nowadays has got big reputation both home and abroad. As early as 1982, Guanqian Street was set up as a pedestrian mall- the oldest one all over the country. After one-century ups and downs, Guanqian commercial center nowadays has been completely renewed by the lead of CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee and Municipal Government with huge capital. The reconstructed Guanqian Street has been becoming a commercial, cultural, religionary and travel center with rich local color, sound traffic network, perfect infrastructure, rational overall commercial arrangement and excellent investment environment.

Nanmen Sowntown

Nanmen sowntown is located at southern part of Suzhou ancient city, to the north of Renmin Road, and well-known “Water Line in Paradise” is sited here. The business and shopping in Nanmen sowntown is prosperous with all manner of department stores, general business buildings and supermarkets. The biggest fruit and vegetable terminal market is right there, and meanwhile, about 20 flavor restaurants lent color to the busiest downtown area in the extreme south of the city.

FYI: bus lines: Y2, Y4, 1, 101, 102, 103, 513, 514, 949, 61, 62, 70, 28, 308, 218, 309, 5

Shiquan Street

Shiquan Street is located in hotel area in ancient downtown of Suzhou, famous Nanlin Restaurant, Suzhou Restaurant ,Nanlin Hotel as well as the classical garden of The Master-of-Nets Garden are on this street. As tourism of Suzhou booming and old streets being reconstructed, the rebuilt Shiquan Street looks brand-new.

Suzhou Shiquan Street now has become a far-famed characteristic street for its craftworks and restaurants. There strew many Ming-and-Qing-Dynasty-style architectures including characteristic restaurants and craftwork shops, such as restaurant dealing in fish-head soup, teahouse featured culture and catering of Wu ,mountain-city chaffy dish with west China flavor, Japanese Restaurant, Corean Restaurant, Corean barbecue, Guangzhou-style dish, Huaiyang-style dish, etc., which are scrambled for by both home and oversea travelers. Also, Shiquan Street is well-known for its craftworks like Suzhou Embroidery, chinaware antique, calligraphy and painting, chinaware, silk, inscriptions, jade, rosewood articles, there are everything that you expect to find.

Editor’s words:

After a visit to the Suzhou Silk Museum or Suzhou Silk Factory where you can learn enough to improve your bargaining position and avoid getting duped by phony material, head out into the town and start shopping.

Suzhou is a typical city blending classical tone and modern air. Living in or visiting Suzhou must be a fantastic feeling- relaxed, comfortable and enjoyable. Classic Chinese performing arts are well represented, with nightly performances of Chinese opera, folk dance, storytelling and theater taking place in the beautiful Master of Nets Garden and other spots around town. If you like modern life, a lot bars and clubs are waiting for you.

“Do as the Romans do”

Performing Arts

In the spring and autumn months, you can catch performances of Chinese opera, folk dance and theater in the Garden of the Master of Nets every evening at 7:30. For a taste of Suzhou opera, try the Museum of Opera and Theatre. The local music known as ping tan—a male-female duo singing and playing traditional instruments—can be found at various spots around town, including at the Ping Tan Museum.

Museum

The Suzhou Museum showcases ancient paintings, calligraphy, carvings and crafts, and its new wing, designed by native son I.M. Pei, pays homage to traditional Suzhou architecture while making a contemporary statement about China’s present. More of Suzhou’s rich cultural heritage can be found at the Museum of Opera & Theatre, the Silk Museum and explore Suzhou’s history in silk at the Suzhou Silk Museum and Silk Embroidery Institute.

Suzhou Silk Museum

Suzhou Silk Museum is multi-functional, and combines exhibits with demonstrations of silk weaving. Exhibits on display in its various exhibition halls reflect the origin, evolution and development of silk production, from primitive times to the Shang, Zhou, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties right through to present day. Among the exhibits are 80 traditional silk looms, 320 fragments of silk from various dynasties, 30 bolts of ancient silk, 350 ancient garments, and a large number of samples of modern silk products. In the Introductory Hall there is a large relief sculpture depicting a camel caravan. It is reminiscent of the Old Silk Road, the road on which the earliest Eastern and Western exchanges took place, surrounded by vast deserts, traversed by camel caravans, site of mystical stone grottoes, ancient temples, and magnificent passes…

Address: 2001 Ren Min Road, Suzhou, China.

Telephone: 0512-82112636

Festivals & Events

Try to catch a temple fair if you’re in Suzhou at the right time—The Chang Men Temple Fair celebrates YaShenxian in mid-April (the fourteenth day of the Chinese lunar calendar’s fourth month)— that’s the day one of Taoism’s Eight Immortals, LuDongbin, comes to town disguised as a mortal. In September and October, the Huqiu Temple Fair showcases folk arts, puppetry, traditional music, acrobatics and wrestling in celebration of the harvest season. The Suzhou Silk Tourist Festival runs from September 20th to 25th. Spring sees a slew of flower festivals in Suzhou city and in the surrounding water townsSuzhou.

Pingtan

Wearing Chinese traditional dresses, two singers sit on the stage narrating various stories while accompanied by two Chinese traditional string instruments- this is a typical scene from a Pingtan performance in various teahouses and theatres found in East China’s Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. Pingtan usually performs long stories, which are divided into many parts. One part is performed over the course of a day and the whole story telling may last for weeks. There are also some stories of medium length and shorter ones. Traditional tales often follow a historical theme with heroic and epic stories.

Nightlife in Suzhou

Scarlet Pub

The Nanjing-based Scarlet Pub opened its Suzhou 1912 flagship bar on July 18 at 1912 Fashion Block of Ligong Causeway in Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) and becomes instantly one of the top choices for young bar-goers. With typical European decoration of the Middle Ages castle in intimate cultural atmosphere, the bar provides nectarial liquors, enchanting music, and colorful night life.

TEL: 0512-65187877

ADD: No.441,Shiquan Street

W9 Restaurant & Bar

Located at west of Jinji Lake, W9 Restaurant & Bar is like a beauty from 1930s; It has not only Western Sofa, but also Chinese traditional chairs, and you can have a strong feeling that the time flows into a traditional Shanghai. Coffee or Wine? Just come to W9 Restaurant & Bar, and you will have pleasure time!

Open:10:30-23:00

TEL: 0512-62951555

Address: Bldg. 9, Zone B, Outlets Plaza, Shuifang Road, SIP, Suzhou

Lַenburg Brauerei and Restaurant

Alongside the tasty fresh beer brewed by resident Brew Master with state-of-the –art German manufactured microbrewery, hearty German and continental European food are prepared to perfection by our culinary artists led by Germany Executive Chef. Extensive Wine List hand-picked by Switzerland Restaurant Manger and Sommelier is also available for those who appreciate the luxurious and sophisticated side of life. Lַenburg Brauerei and Restaurant in Suzhou occupies a ground area of 1700m2 with seating capacity of 250 indoors and 100 in the outdoor beer garden, 6 private rooms with various thymes and special gourmet menu.

Address: Ground Floor, Lakeside Building, Lakeside Boulevard, Suzhou Industrial Park

Tel: 0512-67628777

Fax: 0512-67628717

E-mail: info@loewenburg.com

Post: 215021

Editor’s words:

Overall, you have to make yourself a plan so that the whole program will be more wonderful- Suzhou has everything that you expect to find. Do not be hesitant any more. Enjoy yourself!

Suzhou has been called the ‘land of milk and honey’ since ancient times and Jiangsu cuisine, of which Suzhou cuisine makes up one important part, is one of the eight famous culinary arts in China. Suzhou dishes are praised highly by food connoisseurs from both home and abroad. Suzhou style cooking is closely related to the local culture and characterized by natural flavor, beautiful presentation, light and palatable taste, and seasonal varieties.

Yummy Local Snacks

Sandeli Snack Restaurant

It mainly operates Suzhou style feature snacks. The mansion’s elaborated “fried meat pies”, that of thin crust, green onion, yellow bottom, crisp wrapper, fragrant filling and delicious gravy, and the “crepe skin steamed meat and gravy dumplings”, have both been appraised as “Chinese famed snacks” and “Jiangsu’s famed dim sum”. Under its operation are over ten varieties such as light-fermented skin steamed buns, steamed dumplings with the dough gathered at the top ,steamed bean paste stuffed buns and so on.

Huang Tian-yuan Cake

The centennial Huang Tian-yuan Cake Store on Guanqian Street of Suzhou was once famed for its steamed dumplings, lard cake, etc. From the mid of the fifties on, Suzhou pastry has been enriched by the continuously emerging types featuring elegant shape and color and various flavors. Nowadays the annual provision can reach more than a hundred types, some of which even always appear in banquets and enjoy good reputation at home and abroad.

Crunchy sesame candy

Crunchy sesame candy, including mainly crunchy rose-hemp candy, crunchy rose-lard candy, crunchy spiced-salt-lard candy, is the typical Suzhou pastry that is made folding stuffed with steamed powder. Being a speciality of Suzhou, crunchy sesame candy is characterized by its thin rind, exquisite lines, pure honey and softness and could serve both as desserts and as presents.

Suzhou Snack Restaurant

Located in Taijian Lane, the Suzhou Snack Restaurant is affiliated to Deyuelou Restaurant. The garden not only includes all the local famous snacks of Suzhou, but also has a few superfine snacks introduced from other places. In its numerous varieties, the especially famed are seasonal and finely prepared ones. Among its feature snacks are wonton, chicken, duck blood soup, etc.

Address: 19 Taijian Lane, Guanqian Street

Telephone: (0512)65237603

Palatable Main Dish

Whitebait Soup

Whitebait Soup rose into lasting fame. Besides, the fish of whitebait, white belly and leaden streaky back, can bubble up floating like a ball. Hence the name “streaky fish” or “bubble fish”. It is a speciality of Suzhou. The fish characterized by its tender flesh, appears on the market every fall. The light delicious soup is made up of liver and flesh. Seasoned with ham, bamboo slice and green vegetable leaves, the fleshy liver tastes savory and attracts countless guests.

Watermelon Chicken

Regard fatty and delicate hen as principle to anticipate, put the chicken into the watermelon, pour into the chicken soup, and put into the ham slices, bamboo shoot slices, black mushrooms…etc., add the original soup, cover the melon cover, then it can be ascended the table after steaming for several minutes. The Watermelon Chicken has beautiful and subtle fragrance flavor, the soup is pure and the melon is joss-stick, the nourishment is abundant, it is the traditional famous dish of Suzhou.

Baizhiyuancai

Yuan is a terrapin or turtle in fact. Its nourishment composition of protein, fat, sugar, vitamin etc. is very abundant, most fatty and strengthen with the Caihua turtle of the spring and the laurel blossom turtle of the autumn. So people in Suzhou have the custom of eating Baizhiyuancai and Qingdun turtle to nourish to keep the body in the spring and autumn. It is to cook turtle to cut into a piece of form, assist to adjust to anticipate with the yams, bamboo shoots, black mushrooms, spring onion gingers, salt, wine, etc., and after cooking the marinade is brightness, dense and thick, the taste is salty to take sweet. It is a traditional famous dish of Suzhou.

Since ancient times, the well- known Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal has been passing by Suzhou, and now, there have been more than 312,204 national highways going by. The intensity of highways is equal to that of Germany, being given the name “the Highway Traffic Hub”. Mentioning the aviation, there are many famous airports around Suzhou, which are also convenient. The transportation in and around Suzhou is the same excellent, and there are colorful options for you to choose.

To & From Suzhou

Aviation

Although there are many convinient airports around Suzhou, there is only a small one in it, Suzhou Guangfu Airport. It has only one flight to Foshan every Tuesday. Most travelers fly to Shanghai usually take a bus (one hour and forty minutes, RMB50) from Shanghai Airport or a train to Suzhou (about an hour). China Eastern has an office here and you can book tickets to Shanghai on the Internet! The regular bus:

Shanghai SHA→Suzhou: 10:00-16:00 (departs every hour on the hour)

Shanghai PVG→Suzhou:10:00, 10:40, 11:20, 11:50, 12:50, 13:50, 14:40, 15:20, 16:10, 16:50, 17:50, 18:50, 20:00 (the price of the ticket: 82 Yuan)

Suzhou→Shanghai SHA: 6:20,6:50,7:50,8:20,9:20,10:20,10:50,11:50,12:50,13:50,14:50

Suzhou→Shanghai PVG: 7:30, 8:10, 8:50, 9:30, 10:10, 10:50, 11:50, 12:50, 13:50, 14:50

FYI: if you want to buy the tickets, you must reserve ahead of time (Tel: 0512-65231774)

Basic Facts of Suzhou:

Location: east of China

Area: 8488.42 square kilometers

Population: 8.26 million

Suzhou: a City of All Delicacy

Suzhou, a world-famous tourist city, is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of the Taihu Lake, the long history of which has left behind many attractive scenic spots and historical sites with beautiful and interesting legends. The elegant classical gardens, the old-fashioned houses and delicate bridges hanging over flowing waters in the drizzling rain, the beautiful lakes with undulating hills in lush green, the numerous scenic spots and historical sites, and the exquisite arts and crafts, etc. have made Suzhou a renowned historical and cultural city full of eternal and poetic charm.

Having been the Capital of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C. – 476 B.C), the city still retains many ancient sites with Xishi (one of the four most beautiful ladies), Wuzixu (a prominent strategist and the founder of ancient city of Suzhou) and many other famous persons. Among the traces left by the ancients, the gardens in Suzhou are exceptionally good of the kind, a typical demonstration of simple elegance, with intriguing scenes found in every season and in all weathers, and beyond doubt, everybody will give praise after appreciating them, such as Humble Administrator’s Garden, Lingering Garden and Master of Nets Garden.

Are you hungry? Coming to Suzhou, do not forget to enjoy the local dining. Endowed with abundant native products, the rich and exquisite Suzhou cuisine sets a style of its own on this “land of plenty”.

The traditional performing arts of Suzhou are best represented by Kunqu Opera, Suzhou Opera and Pingtan (ballad singing), reputed both in China and overseas for their minute acting and harmonic melody. Suzhou silk is sold as far as to global, attracted traveling trader of far and near, being known as “the home of silk”.

Suzhou city has formed a huge cubic and open transportation structure, which has many types of transportation and forms circles in the outskirts of a city. The land and water transportation is convenient and rapid. Today’s Suzhou is an open city with developed economy and frequent exchanges with the outside world. It has been officially declared as a part of the coastal economic open zone of the Yangtze River Delta. Comprehensive industrial system has taken shape.

Surrounded by water, Zhouzhuang itself also abounds in interlaced rivers and lakes. The whole traffic was once mainly by means of boats. With a history of more than 900 years, Zhouzhuang has been known as “township and the island”, and Suzhou is also known as the “Venice of the East”. The city is sandwiched between Taihu Lake and Grand Canal. Network of cannels, criss-crossed with hump-backed bridges, give Suzhou an image of “City on the Water”.

best French restaurant, the Le Pre Lenotre at Sofitel Wanda Beijing

Romantic French dinner

Take your loved one to a French five-course dinner on Valentine’s Day, put together by chef de cuisine Yannick Ehrsam, at one of Beijing’s best French restaurants, the Le Pre Lenotre at Sofitel Wanda Beijing. 1,588 yuan net for two people including wine pairing.

010-8599-6666

Lobster with Haagen-Dazs

Caf Marco at Marco Polo Parkside Beijing prepares a buffet dinner for Valentine’s Day at 199 yuan plus 15-percent per person, inclusive of a glass of red wine, free flow of juices, soft drinks and coffee or tea. Or try the restaurant’s set menu at 999 yuan per couple, with lobster salad, grilled Australian beef, Haagen-Dazs ice cream, a bottle of French wine, rose for the lady and other gifts.

010-5963-6688