By Przemyslaw Drapikowski & Matthew Wong

China has many interesting places to visit. You can go to natural environments with mountains, lakes, deserts, grasslands. Some places are industrial, with both traditional and modern but almost always with elements of Chinese architecture still evident. But the trip to Suzhou, as one of the prizewinners for winning the "My Beijing Photo Competition" opened a new chapter in my travelling around China. This place is a crossroad of tradition, history and unique landscape. 

"My Beijing Photo Competition" gave a chance for audiences from all over the World to recall memories and impressions from the Beijing Olympics held last year. It was a wonderful initiative with many people collecting great photos and sharing their individual stories and experiences. All winners had the privilege of visiting Suzhou accompanied by the organizers and distinguished guests, which included Beijing and Suzhou government officials and Ambassadors of foreign countries.

Suzhou Characteristics

Suzhou is located in the Yangzhe River Delta Area and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the Jangsu province and is about 1 hour drive northwest of Shanghai. It's called a historic silk capital of China with 2,500 years of history.  When the Grand Canal was finished (581-618), Suzhou became a strategically main trade route. The city is full of beautiful stone bridges, temples, pagodas and historic symmetrically designed gardens. From ancient times, great travelers appreciated Suzhou like the European explorer, Marco Polo who called Suzhou "the Venice of China". Chinese people call it "Paradise on Earth". 

Chinese Culture Exploration

The first point we visited was Tiger Hill, named because it looks like a crouching tiger. There is also a legend said that the white tiger guarded the burial of King Helu. This hill is a popular tourist destination because of its natural beauty and historical sites, and has been visited by tourists for hundreds of years. There are rocks all over the hill with carvings of poetry and calligraphy. One of the rocks called "Sword Testing Rock" is very famous because of a legend that it was cleaved cleanly by the famous extremely sharp sword. Another famous rock is Thousand People Rock and Sword Pound with 3000 buried swords in it. Tiger Hill is full of cultural architecture and the most impressive one is the Yunan Pagoda. It is seven stories high and has a lean of 3.5 degrees which is why this pagoda is known as the "Leaning Tower of China." It is more than 1000 years old building making it older than the famous Tower of Pisa. 

Suzhou Temples

Another point in our trip was to the Hanshan Temple, which is a very active Buddhist centre. It was built in the Liang Dynasty (502-519) named after a monk. This temple is important for local community and cultural life. Hanshan Temple is famous in East Asia because of a poem, "A Night Mooring by Maple Bridge", which is popularly read in China, Japan and Korea. This is small proof of the beautiful scenery which has proven to be an inspiration for many poets throughout history. Other temples to visit around Suzhou are West Garden Temple, Taoist Temple of Mystery,   Confucian Temple, Gratitude-Paying Temple from Song, Tang and Yuan Dynasties. The beautiful scenery and mystical atmosphere creates the sense of travelling through time and experiencing ancient China.

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