Suzhou Special: Fabled city of water, creativity and culture

A scene from The Peony Pavilion, an example of Kunqu Opera, one of the oldest extant forms of the Chinese dramatic art.

Suzhou sits at the core of the Yangtze River Delta - one of the nation's most economically developed regions - neighboring Shanghai on the east, embracing Taihu Lake on the west, with the Yangtze River to the north and Zhejiang on the south.

Its highly developed expressways, railways, waterways and air routes now form a fast and convenient modern transportation network connecting Suzhou with a great number of major cities in the world.

Known through history as Wu (AD 222-280), the ancestral city was already settled 2,500 years ago. The Wu Kingdom played an important part in the development of Chinese culture.

Still intact in Suzhou is the original chessboard layout of canals and streets in the form of a grid. The landscape of small bridges, flowing water, white walls, black-tiled roofs, classic gardens and time-honored towns earned the city the label "Heaven on Earth".

Suzhou's people are good at making exquisite products. In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, all the goods with the character su had a good market. Since ancient times, the people of Suzhou have had the reputation as intelligent and deft.

Of the 24 major categories of Chinese arts and crafts, Suzhou has 22, including silk, embroidery, opera costumes, Taohuawu wood block New Year pictures, Suzhou fans and lanterns, jade and wood carvings, polished lacquer paintings, painted eggshells, micro sculptures, rosewood furniture, Suzhou musical instruments, and writing brushes, to name just a few.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn