suzhou and zhouzhuang

a few weeks ago i booked a private tour to suzhou and zhouzhuang with a friend of mine visiting from san francisco. suzhou is located about an hour and a half away from shanghai and, along with hangzhou, was considered in chinese history to be one of the most beautiful places in the country.

when i visited hangzhou i was told an old chinese saying, 'in paradise there is heaven, on earth there is suzhou and hangzhou.' fortunately, despite war, internal unheavals, and recent industrial development, much of the history and charm of both places are still intact.

our first stop was suzhou where we visited some historical gardens, then went to see the only remaining section of the old city wall. one of the city gates (both a land and water gate) is still intact and can be explored on foot.


to reach the gate one crosses over a very old stone bridge. it was stepped but cleverly contained grooved tracks running down the center that wheels could slot into. i thought this was a clever ancient invention, possibly made to a standard oxen cart wheelbase but my guide informed me it was put in a few years ago to help people with bicycles cross more easily. oh well....


the land gate was actually two gates in one- an outer gate, courtyard, and an inner gate. the idea was to let people into the courtyard, shut the first gate behind them, and listen to their (hopefully very good) reasons why you shouldn't shoot them full of arrows.

far above the inner gate were holes in the walkway whereby defenders could dump water to stop people from trying to set the inner gate on fire. it reminded me of european castles, though there the gates were made of metal and the holes were to drop boiling oil on invaders. that could be done too, our guide told me.


next and final stop was zhouzhuang, a very pretty town about 30 minutes drive from suzhou. apparently marco polo visited the town (did he visit every town in china?) and called it 'the venice of the east.' zhouzhuang has been around for over a thousand years but only recently became famous because of a painting of a couple of the town's bridges.


the canals that run through the town are very small, so the bridges are too.


boats poled up and down the canals, mostly containing tourists.


zhouzhuang reminded me very much of europe with its small streets, tiny restaurants and houses, and its relatively preserved state- very much unlike anywhere else i've been to in my limited trips around china. i'm not sure how much longer this will be the case as there were large tourist centers under construction, but until that time it's definitely a recommended stop and i wouldn't mind heading back there someday for a more leisurely visit.