The Venice of the East — classical gardens, silk, and Suzhou-style noodles
Suzhou is one of China's oldest cities and its most celebrated garden city — nine classical gardens are UNESCO-listed, including the Humble Administrator's Garden, a masterpiece of rock, water, and pavilion design dating to 1513. The city built the world's largest silk industry here over two millennia, and the Grand Canal runs through it. Suzhou-style noodles (using a slow-cooked toppings system unique to this city) are some of the most distinctive food in China.
Suzhou was founded in 514 BC as the capital of the State of Wu and connected to the rest of China by the Grand Canal in 605 AD. Under the Song and Ming dynasties it became China's richest city — producing silk, books, and the scholars who staffed the imperial bureaucracy. Marco Polo called it 'a very great and noble city' in 1276.