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Embroidery Artisan |
Written historical records indicate that
Suzhou has a history of over 4000 years,which entitles the
city one of "24 Cultural and Historic Cities "
approved as the first group of its kind by the State Council.
For thousands of years Suzhou has been
a cradle of talented people.In ancient times Suzhou gave
birth to many remarkable politicians,philosophers,strategists,scientists
and artists,represented by Sun Wu,Fan Zhongyan,Shen Kuo,Tang
Ying,Gu Yanwu,Kuai Xiang.In modern times,prominent people
from Suzhou emerge in large numbers in various fields.Suzhou's
painting,calligraphy,seal cutting,opera,medicine and architecture
all have different schools and achievements.Its traditional
handicrafts such as embroidery and Taohuawu woodcut picture
enjoy a high reputation at home and aborad.
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Precious Belt
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Built in 514B.C. with a history of more
than 2,500 years,the city still stands at its original location
in the Spring and Autumn Period. Well preserved are its
double chessboard layout of "water and land in parallel,
canal and street in neighbor",its network of rivers
and canals composing three vertical, three horizontal and
one ring, and its unique landscape of "small bridge,
flowing water, white wall, black tile, cultural relics and
classic gardens". In today's Suzhou there are 487 cultural
relics under municipal-and-upper level protection, of which
15 are under state-level protection and 101 are under provincial
protection. Over 60 classical gardens are well preserved
and 9 of them are listed in the Catalog of World Cultural
Heritage, namely, Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering
Garden , Master-of-nets Garden, Mountain
Villa of Embracing Beauty, Surging Wave
Pavilion, Lion Grove Garden , Garden of Cultivation , Garden
of Couple's Retreat, Garden of Retreat and Reflection. Other
famous tourist attractions include Tiger Hill, Panmen Scenic
Area,Shihu Lake , Lingyan Hill, Tianping Hill and Yushan
Hill. Most scenic spots around the Taihu Lake are also in
the city's administrative areas. In addition, thousand-year-old
towns like Zhou Zhuang, Tongli and Luzhi feature the waterside
sceneries in the Yangtze River Delta. In 1998 Suzhou was
awarded "Excellent Tourist City of China ".
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