| |
Overall
Suzhou is a well-known water town in the south of the Yangtze River, with rivers, lakes and tidal flats taking up 34.6% of its total area. Suzhou is nestled in a subtropical monsoon marine climate zone, mild and moist, with distinctive four seasons and abundant rainfall. Known as a land of fish and rice, famous for its silk for long, the city has earned the fame of "the paradise on earth", due to all these attributes. [1]
Prime Location
Situated in the center of the Yangtze River Delta and the southeast of Jiangsu Province, Suzhou is bordering Shanghai to the east, Zhejiang to the south, embracing Taihu Lake towards its west and nestled by the Yangtze River to the north. It has a riverbank stretching 157.96 kilometers along the Yangtze River. The Grand Canal passes through the city from the north to the south, while the Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity railway, the Beijing-Shanghai Express railway, and the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway traverse from the east to the west. [2]
Natural Conditions
Suzhou is a well-known water town in the south of the Yangtze River, with rivers, lakes and tidal flats taking up 34.6% of its total area. Suzhou is nestled in a subtropical monsoon marine climate zone, mild and moist, with distinctive four seasons and abundant rainfall. Known as a land of fish and rice, famous for its silk for long, the city has earned the fame of "the paradise on earth", due to all these attributes.
Suzhou has been farming rice, wheat, rapeseeds, and fruits and producing water crops including lotus root, Gorgon fruit and wild rice stem; the special local produces contain duck blood-black glutinous rice, white garlic, citrus, loquat, Chinese chestnut, plum, osmanthus flowers, Biluochun tea, etc. Dao fish from the Yangtze River, hairy crabs from Yangcheng Lake, silver fish, white fish, white shrimps from Taihu Lake are well-known aquatic products. [3]
Thousand-year-old Town
As one of the first 24 national historical and cultural cities, Suzhou is home to 884 cultural relic protection sites, among which 61 are at the national level and 128 are at the provincial level. The ancient city area boasts five historical neighborhoods including Changmen, Garden of Harmony, Pingjiang Road, Humble Administrator's Garden and Shantang, and a number of scenic spots and historic sites.
Pingjiang Historical Neighborhood and Shantang Historical Neighborhood are awarded Chinese Historical Cultural Street and the Most Popular Street of Tourism, History and Culture in China respectively.
Suzhou finished the compilation of the special plan for the protection of famous historical and cultural cities (2035). Concrete measures have been taken in protecting the ancient city proper such as the demonstration project in the Pingjiang neighborhood. [4]
Folk Arts and Crafts
Since ancient times, Suzhou has had the reputation of "the world of craftsmanship". Among the 11 categories of Chinese arts and crafts, Suzhou has more than 3,000 varieties in 10 categories. Su embroidery, K'o-ssu(silk tapestry, with cut designs), Su fan, jade carving, opera costumes, Taohuawu woodcut New Year paintings and other skills are well-known at home and abroad.
In 2014, Suzhou was selected as a member of UNESCO's Global Creative Cities Network and was awarded the title of "City of Crafts and Folk Arts". [5]
Opera Art
The art of opera in Suzhou enjoys a long history and is gorgeous and colorful. Kunqu Opera is the "ancestor of a hundred operas" in China, and it is one of the four major types of opera in China.
In 2001, Kunqu Opera was declared a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.
In 2006, Pingtan and Su Opera were included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage by the State Council. [6]
References:
|
|
