Ancient City of Suzhou-the “Oriental Venice”

The Ancient City of Suzhou is located in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province in east China. A famous historical and cultural city of China, Suzhou has a recorded history of over 4,000 years. Now the Ancient City of Suzhou still preserves the double-chessboard layout of the Song Dynasty, featuring "water and roads going side by side, and rivers bordering on streets." Suzhou has crisscrossed rivers, and the famous Grand Canal passes by the city. "The rivers in the Ancient City of Suzhou total 35 kilometers long, with over 170 bridges, hence the name of the "Oriental Venice." Each of the eight city gates of Suzhou can be reached by both land and water. As the city is linked with the countryside by roads and rivers, Suzhou has convenient transport facilities, Tourists can go to the beautiful city by automobile or boat. Suzhou is a noted garden city in China. An old saying goes: "'South China has the most beautiful gardens in the country; and Suzhou has the most beautiful gardens in South China." In the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, private gardens in Suzhou numbered ever 200. Taking a walk in the ancient city. tourists can see the beautiful scenery of a land of water everywhere, with plaster walls, black tiles, small bridges, running waters and waterside houses, Suzhou is a famous tourist destination all the people are eager to go. Ancient City of Pingyao-the “Turtle City” Situated in the seat of Pingyao County in Shanxi Province in central China, the ancient city was built in the third year of the Hongwu reign period (1370) of the Ming Dynasty. The square city wall built with bricks is 6.4 kilometers in circumference, 12 meters high and five meters wide on average. The watchtowers were built on the outer wall at 50-meter intervals, and there is a corner tower on each of the four corners. On the city wall, there are 3,000 battlements and 72 watchtowers, symbolizing that Confucius had 3,000 disciples, of whom 72 were outstanding. Certainly, it is a coincidence. The city wall was built in the shape of a turtle with six gates, hence the name "Turtle City." A bird's-eye view will find that the city is surrounded by a moat, and the city wall has six gates: One on the south, one on the north, two on the east and two on the west. The gates on the south and north wails symbolize the head and tail of the turtle, and the gates on the east and west walls stand for the feet. In ancient China, the turtle is an auspicious animal, symbolizing longevity and as solid as a rock. Opposite the Pingyao city, there is another ancient city-Xian, famous for the City Wall. The city wall in Xian has at least 12 gates. If you want to know more about the Xian travel, you can browse the website http://www.travel-xian.com . All the streets, houses and shops in the ancient city of Pingyao remain intact. The government residences, altars, temples and other large architectural structures in the old city are laid out according to the ranking system of traditional rites, which is a rare living example for the modern people to study the organizational system of a county and the military defensive system in ancient China.The Ancient City of Pingyao has been included in the World Heritage List by the UNESCO.