Suzhou, an ancient cultural city built 2,500 years ago, is known as �the Venice of the East�. The old town is built around a network of canal streets, criss-crossed by 300 bridges (of the 6,000 recorded by Marco Polo). Many private gardens built by scholars, poets and cultured Mandarins since the Song Dynasty (960 �1279) make the city known for classical gardens. The Humble Administrator �s Garden
built during 1506 and 1512 in the Ming Dynasty, it covers an area of 4.8 hectares, three quarters of which are water. It is regarded as one of the four major gardens in China along with the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Mountain Summer Resort in Chengde and The Garden Linger to In in Suzhou.
The ancient Grand Canal is a wonder of the ancient Chinese civilisation, with a history of 2,400 years. At 1,700 kilometres in length, the canal starts from Beijing and ends at Hangzhou. The Garden to Linger In is well arranged and elegant. It was built during the reign of Emperor Jia Qing (1522 �1566) of the Ming Dynasty. |
