Suzhou/Environs

Suzhou

Located at the heart of Yangtze River Delta, Suzhou is bordering Shanghai on the east, and nestled by Yangtze River on the north. Suzhou has a gifted and geographic advantage for its convenient transportation to the other major cities in one or two hours’ travel, such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Zhejiang, etc. With a total population of 6.5 million living and working here, Suzhou covers a territory of 8,488 km2. Based on its long history of over 2,500 years, Suzhou is well known for its unrivaled cultural heritage and great talents. The city is renowned for its elegant stone bridges, numerous majestic pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens, which have become a great tourist attraction.

Commensurate with its natural beauty, Suzhou is also the cradle of Wu Culture, a subsidiary branch of Chinese culture well known for its elegance and exquisiteness. It has gained a reputation for its numerous talents in the literary circle. In the past two millenniums, the city has nurtured a plethora of eminent scholars that greatly enriched the cultures of East Asia as well as the world. Among them are Lu Ji, a writer in the Western Jin Dynasty (265-420), the statesman Fan Zhongyan and the poet Fan Chengda in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the playwright Feng Menglong in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Tang Yin and Wen Zhengming of Wu Painting School in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and scholars Gu Yanwu, Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan in modern times.

Today, though the old city still has its moat and many of its finest gardens, greater Suzhou is far from being stuck in the past—it's a booming metropolis of 5 million, profiting from its proximity to the Yangzi delta and the economic powerhouse of Shanghai. Despite the building boom, many gardens, temples and classic Chinese canal scenes remain, and Suzhou is still the source of some of China's finest silk. Cycle around the city visiting gardens, shop for silk and local handicrafts, visit the Suzhou Museum addition designed by native son I.M. Pei, head out to one of the Ming or Qing-era canal towns on the city's outskirts or the pleasant island-speckled Tai Hu, China's third largest lake—the list of things to do and see in Suzhou is long.   

Spring and fall are the best times to visit Suzhou, with moderate rains and temperatures making for pleasant outdoor weather. April and May see high temperatures in the mid-teens and 20s C° (60s and 70s °F) and moderate precipitation. September is nice and October is brilliant, with little rain and highs ranging from the about 15-24 °C (70-84 °F). Summers are hot and muggy, with August highs reaching well into the 30s C° (90s °F), and winters chilly and damp, with lows occasionally dipping below freezing.