Chinese Sintel Peter's courtyard, in which a boy-accepting a poor family, who jetstered in a communal apartment, held all his time - it was his real school of life. The usual yard of the 50s, 60s with cruel fights, the power of criminal split and the cult of force. To survive B.

Chinese Room (Antipati) Literary Alluses and parallels are all good and useful for development. But it is necessary to think about the next, Panov-Brattya. If the classic "Chinese room" came up with a philosopher Syrkl for two reasons (and the philosophers always have two, and always those

Chinese cuisine Chinese cuisine Nikolai Skov Politics Economics and the beginning of the Asian Bank of Infrastructure Investment Chinese Cuisine - a recognized symbol and diversity symbol. Throughout the millennium, from one side it was unthinkable

Not far from Shanghai, in Jiangsu Province, there is a beautiful city of Suzhou, for which the second name is firmly secured - Chinese Venice, the city of gardens and canals. The historic center of Suzhou, around which the modern urban district is located, stands on the Great Chinese Channel between Shanghai and Wuxi, which was built two thousand years old, and many centuries were the most important transport and commercial center of Jiannan regions - the richest part of the country. For us, Suzhou became the city of dogs and many small craft shops. In the Suzhou in the XII century, Venetian Marco Polo visited, it was he who came up with a name for this settlement - Chinese Venice. Rich Primburse Officials broke their gardens here, now these gardens are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Today, Süzhou is a modern city with a subway and skyscrapers, in which a cozy old center has been preserved with low houses on canals and magnificent gardens hidden behind the high walls.

How to get to Suzhou

No airport in the city, and the nearest is in Shanghai. Distance from Shanghai to Suzhou - 80 km, this is a little less than an hour by train. Cheap flights Moscow - Shanghai.

We arrived in Suzhou on a high-speed train from Shanghai and first thought that we would see a small provincial town of Jiangsu Province. It turned out that this is a modern megapolis. Fare of the train Shanghai Suzhou 39.5 yuan. ABOUT chinese trains And how to buy tickets on them can be read in the article.

From the station you can walk to Northern Pagoda and a modest official or to get to it or other attractions on the subway. At the station there is a tourist information center where you can take free map Suzhou with a metro map and attractions.

Subway Suzhou map

Subway Suzhou is valid since 2012 and it is immediately noticeable, especially compared to Shanghai. The metro is very clean and light. At one of the stations of Seryozha, it approached the machine, where something was sold for one yuan, and decided to buy it certainly. It turned out that these are paper handkerchiefs!

You can buy tickets in the machine, as in other metro of Chinese cities. How to do it, you can see in the article. Metro map Suzhou:

From Shanghai you will arrive at the station, which is located at the subway station Suzhou Railway Station.

Where to stay in Suzhou, hotels in Suzhou

In fact, if you go to see most of the gardens of Suzhou, one day you do not have enough! Therefore, it is worth thinking about to stay in Suzhou for a few days. You can choose a cozy hotel. Suzhou hotels in Suzhou.

What to see in Suzhou, attractions of the city, center map

Map of landmarks Suzhou:

Channels Suzhou

Suzhou was built in 541 BC. e. King he Lui. According to its historical and cultural significance, Suzhou ranks third after Beijing and Siane. It is also one of the four tourist cities under special environmental protection of the Chinese government. Three other cities enjoying such a privilege, this Beijing, Hangzhou and Guilin. In 1997, Suzhou attracted the attention of the world community - this year, UNESCO decided to make his classic gardens in the list of world cultural heritage. Suzhou is located on the shipping great Chinese Channel - on one of the oldest hydraulic structures from the world preserved in the world today. Channel was built for two thousand years - from the VI century. BC e. until the XIII century. n. e. Currently, this is one of the most important inland water arteries of the PRC, which connects the large ports of the Shanghai country and Tianjin.

Channel length - 1782 km, and with branches in Beijing, Hangzhou and Nantong - 2470 km. The width is width in the most narrow part in the provinces of Shandong and Hebei - 40 m, in the widest part in Shanghai - 350 m. The channel connects the River Juanhe and Yangtze, including the channels of such rivers, like Bayhe, Wehhe, sneeze and others, as well as several lakes Mostly, the channel passes through the plain territory, however, there are places in places. Therefore, the channel is equipped with a gateway system invented in the century. In 2014, the Great Channel is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Suzhou is often called Chinese Venice. True, the gondolas on the channels do not swim, but swim the pleasure boats and various barges. On some, it seems even live:

The historic part of Suzhou is surrounded by a rather wide bypass channel, concluding it into a rectangle. You can swim on it on a pleasure boat.

Suzhou and Venice - the cities of witnesses, as evidenced by the gift of Italians, Gondola, who is strangely decorated with a lawn in the park at the gate of Panmene.

Along the canals in Suzhou, there are low white houses where people live.

Park and Panmene Gate

Suzhou is the city of gardens and parks. We decided to start our inspection from the park at Panmene gate, which are located in the southwest of the city and reached us from the time of the ancient Suzhou. In antiquity, Suzhou was decorated with 16 gates: 8 terrestrial and 8 water, which were destroyed over time. Built in the 6th century, Panmen gates were and remain the only goal and on land, and on the water. Their name means "Gate Curved to the Dragon Tangle." The current gate was built in 1351 during the dynasty of the Yuan (1206-1368) and were repaired several times in later dynasties.

The nearest metro station to the gate and park - Nanmen. From her, it should still be held for about 15 minutes. On the way from the subway, we met shopping streets with various shops. The Terrible Guards of the Heavenly Lviv Buddha are not respected here at all, fold the goods right on them.

Tuski birds on the street were not surprised.

And this is a special dishes for Chinese dumplings that make a couple.

At the entrance to the park we are met here such a gate and cow. Entrance to the park is paid, the cost of 40 yuan.

The famous gates are now part of Panmene landscape park, which tourists know worse and attend less frequently than widely advertised gardens of a modest official and masters of networks. But in fact Panmene Panmene and interesting and not so crowded as others.

On the territory of the park you can see the oldest Pagoda Suzhou - Ruiguang or the Pagoda of the Good Glow. Pagoda has 7 tiers. It is said that the pagoda was built in 247.

Kimono, bought for Japan, unfortunately, did not go there yet, but found himself in Suzhou.

In addition to the pagoda in the park you can see temples, canals and bridges and feed fish.

Despite January, flowers bloom in the park.

Dragons decorate the temple.

The park is quite big and we spent a lot of time on it. Then we had a plan to visit a couple of gardens, and we went to the subway.

Near the gate Panmen is the Wumen Bridg Bridge. It was built in 1084 and is the highest ancient bridge in Suzhou.

Next to the park is Pan Pacific Suzhou, stylized under an ancient city wall. Hotel Pan Pacific Suzhou in Suzhou.

If you stop at this hotel, the entrance to the park will be free.

Pagoda of the Northern Temple

After visiting Panmen Park, we went to the subway to two other gardens parks, and went out at the Beisita Metro Station. It turned out that it was named so the station in honor of the Pagoda, which is near. Pagoda of the Northern Temple - its Chinese name sounds like Beisita. This is the highest Pagoda of Suzhou, it was built from 1131 to 1162 years.

Garden of a modest official (Zhozhhenyuan)

From the Pagoda of the Northern Temple, we went to the garden of a modest official (ruler) - The Hamble Administrator's Garden. This is the most famous and visited garden Suzhou. But when we came to him, we saw only the walls and closed gates. The garden no longer worked. Arriving in Suzhou for lunch, we managed to visit only one garden - Panmen. In winter, the gardens are closed early.

The garden of the modest ruler was built in 1509 in the era of the board of the dynasty of the mines of the former state centurner Wang Xianchene, who, according to legend, was removed from office for bribery. The garden is considered one of the outstanding samples of traditional Chinese gardening art. The main part of the garden is a huge pond with bulk islands connected to each other with zigzag covered bridges. The main architectural building of the central part of the park is the Pavilion of "Elusive Aromas", being inside of which, you can feel the aroma of lotuses growing in the pond. The garden received its name from the classic character, a "modest official" who dedicated himself to gardening, from the work of the poet Yue Pan "Bachelor". "... I enjoy a quiet life, building your home and growing trees in the garden ... I scream the garden and grow vegetables for myself ... After my resignation, such a secluded life makes me happy ..."

The garden consists of eastern, western and central parks, as well as the residences of the former garden owners. The entrance to the park in the low season costs 70 yuan, and in high (from April to October) - 90 yuan. The garden is open from 7 am to 5:30 pm. Lotuss bloom in the park from June to September. Beisita Metro Station. Site of the park of a modest official (Zhozhhenjuan).

Garden Lion Grove (Schitzylin)

It is located near the garden of a modest official. But when we approached him, he was already closed too. This garden was founded in 1342 by the Buddhist monk named Tianz in honor of his teacher Zhi Zhen. They say that Zhi Zheng reached Nirvana in the lion's peak of Mount Tianhu, located in the province of Zhengjiang, so the garden and was called the lion's grove. A characteristic feature of this picturesque park is artificial stone slides, resembling their forms of various lions, and green areas, curved by a spiral and forming a labyrinth. The garden is open from 7:30 to 17:30, input - 40 yuan. Beisita Metro Station. Park site Lion Grove (Schitzylin).

Garden Master Networks

Network Masters Garden is small, and at the same time the most refined, landscaped garden in Suzhou. This garden is also sometimes called Fisher's Garden (Fishing Master's Garden). The garden is located on the square of 0.6 hectares. This elegant structure is a typical example of the official residence of the Epoch of the Board of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911). The garden that we see today was defeated on the site of the former mansion of one of the officials who served here during the Board of the Song dynasty (960-1279). The new owner of the Garden of the Master of Networks, Sun Zong Yuan, chose such a name for his garden in memory of the previous name of this place - the refuge of the fisherman. This garden is small, but in every sense noteworthy. He has a very picturesque pond located in his center. A lot of beautiful plants grow around the pond, a specially installed stones are standing. There are also pavilions and stone bridges in the garden. The garden is open from 7:30 to 17:00, the entrance is 40 yuan.

The garden of the masters of the networks looks completely different with the onset of darkness when lights light. The atmosphere in the garden becomes truly magic. In the evenings, various shows are held in the garden, such as the opera Kuntzu (Suzhou Opera). Artists come in national costumes, perform vintage folk songs and dancing, play an ancient musical instruments. Presentations are held in many halls, pavilions and rooms at the same time, so visitors have the opportunity to get acquainted with different types of art in one evening. Evening views in the garden go from 19:30 to 22:00 every night from mid-March to mid-November. Visitors can buy tickets for just to visit the garden and special tickets for evening views (100 yuan). Nearest metro stations Yangyu Xiang and Chayuanchang. Site Park Master Networks.

Tigry Hill

On Tigrin Hill (Tiger Hill) there is a local incident tower - Pagoda Yunyan Ta. Seven-story Pagoda Yunyan was built in 961. "Fall" to the north-west of the central axis, it began from the middle of the XVII century. The hill of a tiger, also known as the hill of the raw sea, is located in the north-western part of Suzhou. Its height is 36 m. According to one of the legends, somewhere in the depths of the hill near the lake of the sword is hidden by the tomb of Emperor He Lou, which was ruined in 722 - 464. BC. It is said that when the emperor buried, a white tiger came to the entrance to the tomb and remained to guard the deceased. This is one of the most popular sights of Suzhou - 1.5 million tourists attend it every year. The entrance to the park is 80 yuan in high season and 60 yuan in low. You can get to the park on buses number 1 and No. 2, departing from the railway station. Site Park Tigry Hill.

Museum of the city of Suzhou

Suzhou City Museum is designed by the legendary architect Bay Yumin, the creator of the famous glass pyramid of the Louvre in Paris. It attracts attention not only by exhibits, but also by their appearance, combining traditional Chinese style and futurism. Located near the garden of a modest official. Opening hours: from 9:00 to 17:00 from Tuesday to Sunday. The entrance is free. Website of the museum of Suzhou.

Silk Museum in Suzhou

Suzhou is called the city of silk - they made silk and embroidery for the imperial yard. Silk Museum in Suzhou (Suzhou Sichou Bowuguan) was the first in China. The museum has a small silk factory that works like a show for tourists. There is also a silk shop where you can buy a Chinese embroidery of Suzhou and sets for embroidery for silk. Silk Museum site in Suzhou.

Dogs in Suzhou

Traveling in China, the first time we practically did not see dogs, whereas in European countries will often meet dogs and their owners. The first dogs we met on the bus station in Guilin. About our adventures in Guilin read in the article. The topic of dogs in China is complex, when in the days of the "cultural revolution" in the 1960s. Dogs were in opal and began to be considered a sign of the highest class and luxury attributes. Often, fear possible consequencesThe owners of dogs themselves got rid of their four-legged "class characters". And taking into account the fact of the acute shortage of food in the country, the dogs were literally doomed. Some Chinese dog breeds almost disappeared, for example, Sharpei and Tibetan mastiffs. Now the Chinese are again acquiring homemade pets, but in some places still have dogs to eat. In some cities, there are laws that limit the number of dogs from the family to one, dog registration rules are introduced in the city. Apparently, due to these reasons, we have not seen so many dogs as, for example, in Italian cities. "The city of Dogs" for us was the Suzhou, where the four-legged pets could be very often seen. Here the pek is heated in the sun's sunshine in Suzhou.

And here the dog along with the owner is waiting for a traffic light at a pedestrian crossing.

Peskov in suites:

Guard in the store:

On a walk:

And this kid walked one through the night city:

In one shop, we met here such a wonderful cat:

Shopping Suzhou

In Suzhou, a lot of interesting shops and shopkeepers. On the way to the gardens, we saw their many.

For example, a store where you can buy a fan, immediately sits the master who does them.

What only fares are not seeing, from cheap to very expensive handmade.

In this bench, there was also a featful worker who welcomed all visitors and said: "Nor Hao!". Look at the video O. Suzhou Where there is this bird and a brief overview of Suzhou.

Food in Suzhou

Suzhou is famous for the exquisite cuisine, which originates with the "boat dishes" of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, many noble people arranged pions on boats, so they could have fun not only from delicious food, but also beautiful landscapes. Since the kitchens on the boats were small, the cook sought to compensate for small portions to the taste. And in our time, Suzhou kitchen retained its features: sweetness, lightness, high-quality ingredients. Especially popular dishes from vegetables and fish. When we wanted to eat went to the eatery for local. At first, we were trying to give a small menu in English with the most expensive dishes, but we looked at what visitors eat and asked the same. Again the favorite dumplings again and took the soup on the sample, which was also with dumplings!

On Sergei Street, he could not resist and decided to try street food - local eastern sweetness. But she turned out to be some kind of tasteless.

Where to go from Suzhou

The neighborhood of the city is also very interesting.

City on the water Zhojuang

Zhowojuan is one of the most picturesque and famous Chinese cities on the water, located in the Cunchean district, just 30 km south-east of Suzhou. An ancient town is standing on the Jinghan Channel, connecting Suzhou with Shanghai. The city is widely famous for its romantic atmosphere, charming species and well-preserved old residential buildings, elegant bridges and rich cultural heritage. Channels are served by the streets, on the shores of which houses with white walls and curved tiled roofs were built. Centuries Back to these streets, residents moved exclusively by boats. One of the most famous bridges of the city - Shuangziao (double bridge) is considered a symbol of Zhojuana. The bridge was built in the era of mines during the reign of Emperor Vanley (1573 - 1619) and consists of two bridges - Schideziao and Unanziao, forming the letter "g" and connecting two rivers - Inji and Nanbei.

City on the water tunnel

Tinley's tiny town is just 18 km from Suzhou on the way to Lake Thai. You can come from Suzhou by bus from the Northern or South Bus Stoves. Tunli is an excellent model of Chinese cities on water: only through the historic center is 15 rivers connected by semalous bridges. Boats continue to be the main vehicle For 10 thousand local residents inhabiting the Central District. Thanks to this, an extraordinary silence reigns in the city, so unusual after Shanghai visits. The main attraction of the city is bridges built into different epochs and reflecting different architectural styles. 49 bridges connect seven islands formed by 15 rivers and 5 lakes on which the city is worth. Each bridge wears its unique poetic name. The most famous are the bridges Taipin (Bridge of Great Tranquer), Jili (Welfare Bridge) and Changzin (the permafrost bridge). They are called the "Triple Bridge" in the city.

Tunli is often referred to as the "architectural museum of the Ming and Qing dynasty". In fact, the city retained his ancient appearance, and among the ancient traditional Chinese houses, where the Chinese continue to live, there are interesting architectural monuments - Manor with gardens and temples, built along the banks of the rivers.

It's funny that at such a romantic and an ancient place, like a tunley, a choice for the opening of the first in China of the Museum of Sexual Culture is apparently to lure tourists from the neighboring Zhojurana. The museum is divided into four parts: "Sex in primitive society", "marriage and women", "sex every day" and "non-traditional sex." Inside, about 2,000 exhibits giving gunpoints about the development of sexual culture in China from ancient times to the present day. Entrance to the museum from 18 years and costs 20 yuan.

We liked the city, in good weather, given the visit to the suburbs, you can come here 3, no less. The next day we went to the city, the continuation should be ...

In more detail about what eventually it turned out the route in China, read the article. There you can see the map of this route. Also in this article we are talking about every city, in which hotels we stayed how much the journey cost, and where it was possible to save.

Continued about China and every city of our trip read. , and the acquisition of universal. And thick waists can just

Another place, which, of course, deserves close attention and compulsory visits. This is the city of Suzhou, located in the Delta of the Yangtze River. On the sleeves, as well as the present city spent between them, the real city grew, and what city is the whole area! After all, in addition to the Suzhou himself, you can go to the neighboring towns, for example, in Tunli.

Suzhou City is located just an hour from Shanghai. In principle, it would be even possible to get out of one day. If Suzhou himself was not so interesting, that he was not so much with the surroundings with surroundings 2-3 days.

Immediately at the exit from the station, we rest in the canal and the fortress wall. Already cool!

The city of Suzhou is huge. You probably, and did not really know about such, and there is even a subway! This is where I came up with a joke about "What is overpopulation in Chinese? This is when you are going to a small-minded point on the map, and there are not only 40-storey residential skyscrapers, but also the metro line!

And we actually go to the center!

Here he is the old town. It is a rectangle about 2 by 3 km with channels and with an old building along them, leading to enthusiasm both foreigners and the Chinese themselves.

Really here Venice!

Yes, no, steeper Venice!

It seems like the place and tourist, but the ordinary Chinese live in homes. They immediately prepare, erased, etc.

Would you like to live here? Every morning peeking in the window, drinking green tea, looking at the flowing driver.

Popular riding on gondolas in water arteries.

On the outskirts of the historic center you can find a boutoforest wall. It is clear that she is Novodel, but the Chinese are hacking.

In general, romantic here ...

So, Suzhou is a major industrial city. Fans of stinky Promon will be interesting here. Although I am a lover, but I did not go to watch - there is little time, alas ..

Well, the industrial architecture of the beginning of the 20th century also deserves attention.

I went to the suburb of Suzhou - Tong Li town.

There is still more lamps than in Suzhou.

More authentic, untouched. It's an increasing and rare for China ..

These are narrow powerful streets, where as well as hundreds of years ago there is a simple peasant people.

Old city. All pedestrian

You can wander all day for these labyrinths.

This is generally class!

Here everything is simple, without delight. The question is how much this town will stretch without global reconstruction?

So it's a pity that I needed ahead of my time, I came here for just a couple of hours (it was very early, and I was here about a year ago).

In those carriages, simple tunnelins erase under linen.

The next morning I decided to leave Suzhou further to Qingdao, but was toughly broken. Suzhou did not let me go.

Well, think about whether such a mental place is so easy to let go? Despite the fact that we have not even seen Promon?

In Suzhou itself, the channels are also actively used by local as natural reservoirs.

Here we wash, wash the dishes. And so already hundreds of years.

The purity of the water of suzhoutsev does not confuse, it seems.

They are still here and catch something .. really fish?

Wash all sorts of objects. For example, cells for parrots

Perhaps it's more interesting than all palaces and monasteries that could be here :)

I would know, of course, I would not be able to leave, I would have walked here yesterday, and today I would go to the tunnel in the morning. But - what is done, then done.

Here are the areas of grace.

And here there are narrow narrow streets.

As I said, Suzhou in the Middle Ages was the capital of China. The emperors of the Ming dynasty have lived here, and many of them have been sazing the stunning beauty of the gardens!

Imperial gardens are one of the key Suzhou key chips. They are about 7 pieces, it is advisable to see as much as possible. I was able to get into the most important and large garden.

In general, as we know, the Chinese are in principle prone to the feeling of beautiful. Therefore, such places like their gardens have always been well obtained.

Copies of small trees.

Ticket to the garden costs 70 yuan. 700 rubles for our money. It would be unlikely that I would voluntarily go for such a sum in this garden. But it was possible to penetrate the wrappers :)

But the garden is cool!

Landscape decorations.

Still not a group of tourists .. However, since I penetrated here for free, then what would I complain about.

Arbor. Here they won the Chinese kings once.

Where, without flowers.

And we will return to the city, in ordinary chinese areas.

Do you often see the forests sticking out of the channels?

Writing shop. We can immediately see that Sizintpin never started. Would such a combination be thinking of us ??

Here are areas of leisure clubs with Mahjong.

And the channels with old buildings are far from only in the center. An ordinary street is somewhere 2-3 km south of him, and here, please,

The picture here in places spoil "I do not care on everyone." Alas, raising the overall standard of living in China brought up the upstairs here is such an uneducated village, which has its rural habits in the city, imaging expensive cars. Familiar to us the problem, we have already started to move away from it, and the Chinese are still behind.

Well, these are standard crushing quarters on the outskirts of Suzhou. Through them, I tried to go to the autobahn to go hitchhiking to Qingdao. But he missed, lost, in the end, the autobahn was at the level of the 5th floor in this place. So I did not leave Qingdao on this day, just went with a backpack. But looked into such a cute place.

Life at all boils!

In general, Suzzhou cereals.

Well, this blacksmith, as they say, made my day!

It does not matter, the first time you stepped into Chinese land or lived in this country for several years, traveling in China is a great way to learn more about the culture, history and life of our Chinese contemporaries. With the help of our project, you can not only expand geography tourist places In the country, but also learn local lifehaki. Go?

Suzhou (苏州)

city District in Jiangsu Province (江苏)
The historic part of the city is located on the water
Population: 2.05 million people
Keywords: Eastern Venice, Silk, Gardens, Great Chinese Channel, Bridges, Center for Wedding Fashion, Opera Kuntsyuy, Tea House

Why Suzhou?

History Suzhou has 2500 years. This city has always embodied the ideas about the sophistication and the grace of the traditional culture of China. Today is a modern city, which was able to organically unite the history and modernity, skyscrapers and cozy, high technologies and a provincial pace of life.

The main attractions of the city are gardens, old streets, parks and canals. If you have long dreamed of watching the traditional Chinese city, then you should surely come to Suzhou. Here you will feel unity with nature and history against the background of a dynamically developing modernity.

How to get?

Better and faster to get to Suzhou from Shanghai on a high-speed train, but you can also on the usual one. The price of a ticket will be from 12.5 yuan for the slowest train, a trip to which will take up to 1 hour and 20 minutes. Railway station is located to north of the city center.

The second most popular is the bus. There are four bus station in the city that bind Suzhou C, Wuxi, Zhowojuan and Tunli.

Where to live?

To visit Suzhou quite just one light day. That is, you can go from Shanghai in the morning, spend the day in Suzhou and go back to the evening. But if you are a big lover of bridges and canals, then here are a few recombosis at the choice of hotel in Suzhou.

The hotel is better to choose in the old town, as almost all the sights are located there. Famous gardens are in historical center Cities and relatively close to each other. Therefore, we advise you to settle on the streets Guanqian Street (观前) or Pingjiang Road (平江路). There will also be a convenient pavement of the hotel on Shiquan Street (街) or near Suzhou University (大学). Booking sites offer a lot of options, the choice depends only on your preferences. When booking a hotel on Chinese resources, it is necessary to clarify whether the hotel has the right to place foreigners.

How to move?

The city has developed a public transport system. You can use the subway (the price of a trip from 2 to 6 yuan), buses (ticket price 2 2 yuan) and taxi (landing 10 yuan, and the trip will cost 15 to 60 yuan). The subway in Suzhou continues to be built, so it is better to download an online card, since the paper is very quickly lost with relevance. If you want to try something unusual, we advise you to use the services of Motoriksh (the starting price of 2 yuan, the price for the trip to long distances by agreement). The original design of the strollers will not leave you indifferent.

If you like an active way of movement, you can rent a bike. But for this you have to download one of the many mobile applications. The most popular services Mobike and Ofo.

What to do?

In Suzhou it is worth going to look at the gardens and channels. The first private gardens in Suzhou were built during the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220), but the flourishing of private gardening, like the city itself, fell on the 16-18th century. At this time it was one of the richest cities in the country. Located on the shores of the Great Channel connecting the Hitter of the Empire with the capital, and not far from the Yangtze, the main shipping path from the west to the east of the country, Suzhou was the center of trade in the All-China value. The decline of the city in the second half of the 19th century was triggered by the Taipin uprising, and by the end of the 1940s, there were little from the past gardening magnificence. Restoration of gardens in the last decade and the transformation of them from private possessions into public museums reflects their significant role in Chinese culture.

All traditional parks and gardens in China can be divided into three categories: monastic (under Buddhist temples and monasteries), imperial (including summer residences and hunting grounds) and private gardens. The latter were distributed in the richest cities of the empire located near the mouth of Yangtze: in Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai, Yangzhou. They in turn are divided into two types: "static" and "dynamic". The first were planned with such a calculation that it was necessary to admire them sitting or standing. Therefore, attending such "static" gardens is important to know from what an angle and where to watch. The second, "dynamic," assumed that they would strive to admire them - their beauty is precisely in the dynamics of the replacing landscape. So to the first type belongs to the "lion grove", and the second is a spacious garden of a modest official.

Garden of a modest official (拙政园)

Ticket price 50 - 70 yuan, depending on the season.

The garden was built in 1509. On Square in 5 hectares, ponds, a museum, tea and many pavilions are located. Here you can visit the Pavilion "Rain Sound" or go through the "Prospects Gallery". This is the largest garden in Suzhou. You will definitely love its bridges, bamboo groves and ponds with fragrant lotus. The only drawback of this excessively popular place is the crowd of tourists who can deliver inconvenience.

Garden "Lion Grove" (狮子 园园)

Ticket price 20 - 30 yuan, depending on the season

The garden was built in 1342 by Chan-Buddhist monk Tyange in memory of his mentor. Throughout the history of its existence, the garden was rebuilt several times and restored. The last reconstruction was beastly in 1926.

The peculiarity of the park is artificial stone slides. If you carefully look at and show fantasy, you can see proud lions in stone weave.

Garden of married privacy (耦园)

Ticket price 15 - 20 yuan, depending on the season.

This secluded place is located in the distance from popular routes, and therefore tourists are not so much here as in the rest of the gardens. The garden is a sample of Chinese park art with mandatory reservoirs, bridges and channels surrounded by traditional buildings. Here you can safely reflect and discuss plans for the future.

Tigry Hill (虎丘)

The hill, a height of 36 m, is located in the northern part of the city. The area of \u200b\u200bthe hill is 14,100 square meters. m. According to the legend, the Emperor He Lou (6th century BC) is buried in the bowels of the hill. After the burial on his grave, a white tiger came to his grave, which guarded the Emperor's peace to today. In fairness I must say that the grave of the emperor did not find it. But beautiful legend and fabulous nature Attracts more and more tourists.

The outer shape of the hill resembles a tiger who is preparing for a jump. Not far from the hill is the lake of the sword, and on top of the hill - there is a Chinese "Pisa Tower" - Yunyan Pagoda (云岩寺 塔). The height of the pagoda is 47 m, and the angle of inclination is 3 degrees.

Great Canal (大 運河)

This is undoubtedly one of the main attractions of Suzhou. It is impossible to leave the city on the water, without hiding on the cruise boat in the Great Channel. The channel was built almost 2,000 years and is still the most important water artery of China. Channel length is 1782 km, and with branches - 2470 km.

During the cruise you can watch a small idea. pintan (评弹). This execution of ballads accompanied by traditional tools is one of the visiting cards of Suzhou. All ballads are performed on the local dialect w..

Silk Museum (苏州 丝绸 博物馆)

Ticket price 15 yuan.

Suzhou is famous for the production of silk and silk products. Throughout here, 4,000 years old, great masters create unique works. It was here that the technology of production of silk cookers was developed. In the museum you will not only learn the history of silk production, but also see the process of production: from caterpillars to finished products. And on the first floor in the shopping pavilion you can buy a silk dress, a bathrobe, bed linen and much more.

For title illustration used photo of Alina Kochetova.

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Wǒ ️️ Magazeta.

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