Monuments from Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

This post is mostly a photographic presentation of monuments from Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.

Suzhou is a major city located in southeastern Jiangsu Province of East China, about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Shanghai. It is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce, and the second largest city in the province, after its capital Nanjing. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the shores of Lake Tai and belongs to the Yangtze River Delta region.

Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou has over 2,500 years of history, with an abundant display of relics and sites of historical interest. Around AD 100, during the Eastern Han dynasty, it became one of the ten largest cities in the world mostly due to emigration from Northern China. Since the 10th-century Song dynasty, it has been an important commercial center of China. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Suzhou was a national economic, cultural, and commercial center.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzhou)

Zhouzhuang

Zhouzhuang is a town famous for its canals in Jiangsu province, China. It is located within the administrative area of Kunshan, 30 km southeast of the city centre of Suzhou.

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(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhouzhuang)

Fengqiao town

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Hanshan Temple

Hanshan Temple, literally ‘Cold Mountain Temple’, is a Buddhist temple and monastery in Suzhou, China. It is located at the town of Fengqiao (lit. Maple Bridge), about 5 kilometers west of Suzhou’s old city.

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Traditionally, Hanshan Temple is believed to have been founded during the Tianjian era (502–519) of the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang, in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period. The current name of the monastery derives from Hanshan, the legendary monk and poet. Hanshan and his disciple Shide are said to have come to the monastery during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang (627–649), where Hanshan became the abbot.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanshan_Temple)

Luzhi Town

Luzhi Town is a famous historic old town located in the Wuzhong District, 18 km east of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China.

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(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luzhi)

Master of the Nets Garden

The Master of the Nets Garden in Suzhou is among the finest gardens in China. It is recognized with other classical Suzhou gardens as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The garden demonstrates Chinese garden designers’ adept skills for synthesizing art, nature, and architecture to create unique metaphysical masterpieces. The Master of the Nets is particularly regarded among garden connoisseurs for its mastering the techniques of relative dimension, contrast, foil, sequence and depth, and borrowed scenery.

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(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_Nets_Garden)

Tongli

Tongli is a town in Wujiang district, on the outskirts of Suzhou, Jiangsu province. It is known for a system of canals, it has been given the nickname “Venice of the East”. The place retains many of the features of an ancient Wu region town.

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(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongli)

(Important Note: ALL photographs of this article added to the sourced texts by NovoScriptorium after kind courtesy of our friend Ben Lee – ALL photographs originally taken by Ben Lee)