Location: The city of Suzhou is situated in the south of Jiangsu Province, in the middle of the Yangtze Delta; in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake, bordering on Shanghai in the east, Zhejiang Province in the south , Taihu Lake in the west and the Yangtze River in the north; between north latitude 30 47' - 32 02', east longitude 119 55' - 121 20'.

 

Pronouncing: The city's name is prounced approximately like this: SUE-JOE (like the girl and boy English names "Sue" and "Joe") except that I think the "j" sound in the second syllable is soft instead of hard. Suzhou is sometimes called "Gusu City" and you will also hear it referred to as "Su".

 

History: also known as "Gusu city", having the fame of "Oriental Venice", Suzhou was set up in BC 514; being a city with history of more than 2500 years, it was named Suzhou in A.D.581, Sui dynasty.

 

Traffic:Suzhou is about 150 kilometers from the Shanghai Pudong International Airport and about 90 miles from the Shanghai Hongqiao Airport. Drivers will take the Shanghai-Nanjing Expressway from the Airport to Suzhou. The train ride from Shanghai to Suzhou takes approximately 60 minutes.

 

 

Geography :Approximately 10 percent of the Suzhou area is cultivated fields, 30 percent is hilly, and the rest of the area is covered with water. The streets and alleys in Suzhou are arranged side-by-side with a series of interlocking canals, reminding many visitors of Venice, Italy.

 

Climate: in the north edge of subtropical zone, monsoon maritime climate; mild and humid; with enough sunshine

 

 

Local Highlights: Kunqu Opera, Suzhou Opera and Ballad-sing; silk; handicrafts such as: Suzhou Embroidery, Fans, national musical instruments, scroll mounting, lanterns, mahogany furniture, jade carving, silk tapestry, traditional painting pigments of Jiangenxutang Studio, the New Year's wood-block prints of Taohuamu Studio, etc; Yangcheng Lake huge crab.