ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISIONS & NATURAL CONDITIONS

Administrative Divisions

Suzhou is called Su in short. It includes four county-level cities: Changshu city, Zhangjiagang city, Kunshan city and Taicang city, and six districts: Gusu  District, Wuzhong District,Xiangcheng District, New & Hi-tech, Huqiu District , Industrial Park and Wujiang District. There are 55 totally  towns,  40 sub-districts, 1039 villages and 1079 neighborhood committees in Suzhou.

Location

Suzhou lies in the center of Yangtse River Delta, between 30°47′—32°02′E and 119°55′—121°20′N. It borders on Shanghai on the east, Jiaxing and Huzhou of Zhejiang on the south, Taihu Lake and Wuxi on the west and Yangtse on the north.

Suzhou enjoys strategic geographical location. Hu-Ning Railway, Hu-Ning Expressway and the riparian highway runs from east to west; Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and Su-Jia-Hang expressway connect south and north. Suzhou abounds in waterways and highways. Yangtse Rive that lies on the north of the city is a key waterway artery. suzhou Port on the south bank of  the lower reaches of Yangtse is state first-class port.

Typography

Suzhou, at the bottom of a shallow saucer-shaped plain with Lake Tai at its center, is low and even. Average height is 3.5m-5m above sea level. The southeast part is relatively lower, with the lowest point 2m below sea level. The southwest is a hilly area, with the highest point, the peak of Qionglong Hill, 341.7m above sea level.

Area

The total area of Suzhou is 8657.32 sq.km. At the end of 2014, the river, lake, beach area accounted for 36.7% of the city's land area. At the end of 2015, Built-up Urban Area covers 458.29 sq.km.

Rivers & Lakes

Suzhou is a famous water country region to the south of Yangtse River. It has over 20 000 rivers and over 300 lakes of various size. Famous among them are Taihu Lake, Yangcheng Lake, Yangtse River & Beijing-Hongzhou Canal, etc.

Climate

Suzhou's climate belongs to monsoon of subtropical moist marine climate zone, with distinct four seasons, Suzhou has a mild climate with plenty rainfall. Average temperature of the year is 17.1℃ and annual precipitation is 1601.2S millimeter in 2015.