Suzhou Hotels

Suzhou (Chinese: 苏州; pinyin: Sūzhōu), a well-known garden city with 'the streets and rivers go side by side while the water and land routes run in parallel', is praised as the 'Oriental Venice'.
The Classical Gardens of Suzhou were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997. It was the capital of the kingdom of Wu from the 12th to 4th centuries BC. More recently, it has been a center of cotton, silk and wool and a place of gardens and canals. Suzhou has managed to retain much of a traditional Chinese look and many parts of the old downtown area are quite beautiful.

As the saying goes - 'Gardens to the south of Yangtze River are the best in the world, and Suzhou gardens are the best among them'. These gardens attain their high reputation not only for their vast numbers, but also for their charming natural beauty and harmonious construction. At present more than 60 gardens are kept intact in Suzhou, and a series of them have been listed in the World Heritage List, including the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden, the Garden of Master of Nets and the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty.

The Humble Administrator's Garden presents a traditional Chinese ink-and-wash painting before you, and walking in the garden, you would feel you are actually walking in the paintings! The Lingering Garden is one of the best gardens in Suzhou as well as being one of the four most famous gardens in China. Zhouzhuang, a small town near Suzhou, is the China's top water town. The layout of the town and the residential areas maintains the traditional style and the old river ways and boats are very popular among the visitors. Besides, Suzhou has its unique highlights such as Kunqu Opera, Suzhou Opera and Suzhou embroidery.

Taihu Lake, four fifths of which is in the territory of Suzhou, is one of the four largest fresh lakes in China, with East Hill, West Hill and other scenic spots in its vicinity. The city is cut by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from north to south. Together with its mild climate, making it an available destination all year round, fertile landscape and abundance of produce, it is no wonder that Suzhou is called 'paradise on earth'.

Zhouzhuang, Mudu, Tongli Town and so on should not be missed by any visitor. In any water township of Suzhou, a number of Ming and Qing dynasty preserved buildings can be found. The natural sights and human landscape enhance each other's beauty, which is a great attraction to visitors who linger there.