Built in 514 BC, the old Suzhou City, with a long history of 2,500 years, hasn't changed too much in its layout, which was described in Song Dynasty's Pingjiang River Picture as "the streets and rivers go side by side, while the water and land routes run in parallel". And it has still retained the style of "A small bridge over the flowing stream and some cottages", the scenery portrayed in an iambic verse of Yuan Dynasty. The idyllic landscapes and pavilions in Suzhou are the perfect combination of gardening and cultural art. As a poem praised, "gardens in the south of Yangtze River are the best in the world, and Suzhou gardens are the best among them", Suzhou gardens are really the representative of the classical gardens in China for its antiquity, beauty, delicacy and elegance.
There are about 60 gardens and courtyards, as well as 416 protected historic interests in the whole Suzhou City, which are kept intact or basically intact. Among those scenic spots, 10 are of state level, 58 provincial level and 348 municipal level.
Suzhou gardens were successively praised by National Tourism Administration as "ten excellencies" and "40 excellencies" in terms of the landscapes. Last year they were put into the list of World Natural Heritage by the United Nations.
Suzhou's outskirts are encircled with hills and waters, so the historical interests are dotted within the landscape of lakes and hills. Taihu Lake, one of the 4 biggest fresh-water lakes in China, covers an area of 36,000 hectares. About three fourths of its whole area is in Suzhou, forming 8 landscapes of different characteristics within its basin. The old Canal, which is praised as the national gem, runs 85 km through Suzhou City, where waterside villages and ancient towns are dotted almost everywhere in every counties or cities. The local tourism is endowed with promising opportunities by its gardens, features of the ancient city and its waterside villages. In the past 20 years, the number of overseas visitors has expanded as much as 20 times, from 20 thousand in 1978 to 440 thousand in 1998.
The number of domestic travel agencies grew from non-existent to 41 at present, and the number of hotels available to foreign visitors grew from 4 to 60. There are some 20,000 employees engaged in tourism business, which is 40 times over that in 1978, which was 500 only. International tourism receipt grew to US$ 120 million, nearly 30 times more than the 4.3 million in 1979.
In renovating the scenic sites, the government departments concerned rebuilt over 40 landscape gardens and improved the quality of water within the garden ponds. Efforts have been made to restore a great number of historical relics from damages with traditional methods. Since 1998, large-scale reconstructions have been made to the Sanqing Hall of Xuanmiao Taoist temple, which is the historic relic under State protection. A commercial area around the temple will be built as a tourist center for shopping, food, and recreation, combining business, culture and Taoism together. The restoration of the famous scenic spot, Panmen has been included in the list of major constructions of this year.
The whole development project will fully embody the combination of historical view with cultural tourism highlighting the historical and cultural significance of Suzhou. In Fengqiao scenic area, noises have been remarkably decreased by measures such as changing the transportation route nearby. The Tiger Hill Scenic Resort has been listed as one of the nation's models of civilization by the Central Civilization Committee, the Ministry of Construction, and National Tourism Administration.
In recent years, the basic facilities in Suzhou have been improved remarkably and the functions of a tourist city have been perfected day by day. The expressway from Shanghai to Nanjing and the Airport Road from Suzhou to Shanghai have been put into use. Major projects such as the improvement of the canal from Suzhou to Nanjing and construction of the Taihu Lake Bridge have been completed. The framework of Suzhou's modern transportation has already come into being, which makes Suzhou more accessible to the world. A great number of star rated hotels, designated stores, food streets and entertainment places have been built and put into use to meet the needs of various tourists. The major streets, scenic spots and residential areas in the city have been equipped with coin phones, magnetic card phones, IC phones. Introductions to the scenic spots and the tour route written in both Chinese and English could be seen at train stations, wharfs, hotels, main streets, scenic spots, or ways to the scenic spots. Public lavatories are rebuilt in some main scenic spots, sightseeing areas, designated restaurants or stores. Some lavatories even have barrier-free passages for the disabled.
Suzhou's tourism, characterized by its gardens, ancient features and its waterside villages has publicized its new image through all kinds of tourist festivals by the modern marketing methods and media both at home and aboard. In recent years, with the support of the departments concerned, Suzhou holds dozens of large-scale festivals every year. All kinds of tourist products have also been consistently improved and introduced. Tours to the ancient towns of Jiangnan or south of Yangtze River have been promoted by-a series of festivals like Kunshan Zhouzhuang International Tourism Art Festival, Wujiang Tongli Spring Tourism Cultural Festival, Luzhi Apparel Cultural Tourist Festival which not only make Suzhou better known to the world but also facilitate the development of the local economy. Flower festivals like West Hill Plum Blossom Festival in County Wu, the Tiger Hill Fair, and Tianping Hill Red Maple Art Festival cleverly combined the blossoming season with local customs and become the major projects attracting the tourists.
The Suzhou Amazement Park, forming a contrast with the ancient town, is characterized by its use of high technology and ample opportunities of tourist involvement.
It was praised by leaders from National Tourism Administration as the "outstanding representative of China's third generation of theme parks". Held 20 times already, the Festival of Listening to the Bell of the Cold Mountain Temple on New Year's Eve has become the classic program attracting attentions from home and aboard. It was in the Cold Mountain Temple that the National Tourism Administration held the closing ceremony of Visit China 1997 and the opening ceremony of 98 China City and Rural Tour, which made the bell of the temple more famous to the whole country and the world.