Utour—Your tour

Suzhou, the fabled Venice of the East, lies in the southeast of Jiangsu province, ran through by the Grand Canal. It covers an area of 8,488 sq. km. with a population of 6.24 million.

Suzhou has a long history over 2,500 years. It was originally built by Wu Zixu, a famous general of the state Chu. In 589 A.D. of Sui dynasty, it was firstly given the name Suzhou and reserved the name till today. It was one of the most advanced areas in the South Song dynasty (1127 A.D.-1279A.D.). Now, it is a financial, trading, commercial, logistics center of Jiangsu province as well as the important center of culture, art and education.

Suzhou is also famous as a garden city with abundant tourism resources. It is the most exquisite garden city in China which preserves the layout of the old downtown, original waterways, bridges and private gardens. As the saying goes, “Above there is heaven, below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou.” Many artists and travelers in ancient China visited Suzhou and wrote down many famous poems or articles about the beauty of Suzhou. The famous Italian traveler, Marco Polo, praised it as “The Venice of Orient” in Travels of Marco Polo. In 1997, the gardens of Suzhou are inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list.

Suzhou tours