The Prosperity of Suzhou
3 min readBrief Introduction
Suzhou is located in the center of the Yangtze Delta，in the south of Jiangsu Province，with Shanghai to the east，Zhejiang Province to the south，Wuxi City to the west and the Yangtze River to the north.Since 42%area of the city is covered by water，including a vast number of ponds and streams，Suzhou is praised as the “Oriental Venice”.Taihu Lake，four fifths of which is in the territory of Suzhou，is one of the four largest fresh lakes in China，with East Hill，West Hil1 and other scenic spots in its vicinity.The city is cut by the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal from north to south.Together with its mild climate，making it an available destination all year round，fertile landscape and abundance of produce，it is no wonder that Suzhou is called“paradise on earth”.
Built in 514 BC，Suzhou is an ancient city with a 2500 years’history.The unique characteristics of the past are still retained in present-day Suzhou.Thedouble-chessboard layout of Suzhou，with”the streets and rivers go side by side while the water and land routes run in parallel”，are preserved basically intact.
Strolling the streets，you can feel the unique lingering charm of this landscape left by its long history.
As the saying goes-“Gardens to the south of Yangtze River are the best in the world，and Suzhou gardens are the best among them”.These gardens attain thei high reputation not only for their vast numbers，but also for their charming natural beauty and harmonious construction.At present more than 60 gardens are kept intact in Suzhou，and a series of them have been listed in the World Heritage List，including the Humble Administrator’s Garden，the Lingering Garden，the Garden of Master of Nets and the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty.
Transportation and Communication
By the end of 2006 the number of motor vehicles was 1.1369 million，among which the number of cars was 286000，increasing 13.7%and 36.2%respectively.The passenger transportation volume of 2003 was 229 million person-times and 15.181 billion person-kilometers，up by 9.1%and 26.6%.The total cargo transportation volume was 69.5 million tons and 4.147 billion ton-kilometers.
Revenue from the post sector totaled 669 million Yuan，an increase of 5.5%over the previous year.The number of letters and documents sent through post offices in 2006 was 114.10 million and the number of express delivery was 2.65 million.The number of newspapers distributed was 249 million.By the end of 2003 the balance ofdeposit accounts in the city’s post offices totaled 8.703 billion Yuan，up by 19.5%
over the previous year.The city’s telephone exchange capacity was 297470000 lines with 280010000 fixed telephone subscribers，up by 28.0%.Among them 217090000 were home sets.The number of the subscribers of wireless local calls（smart phones）was 504700 and that of mobile phones reached 359210000.For every hundred citizens in the city，there were 139.7 telephones，an increase of 26 sets over the previous year.Internet users reached 600000.
Tourism
The revenue from the tourism sector totaled 28.596 billion Yuan in 2006，up by 19%over the previous year.The city received 815700 overseas tourists，a decrease of 8.5%.The income from these overseas tourists was 291 million USD，up by 4.5%.
The number of domestic tourists was 23.5017 million，increasing 16.9%.Through tourist agencies 693400 Suzhounese visited other places，which increased 13.6%.The city carried out the strategy of”Grand Tourism”further perfecting its famous tourism brands of”Three ancient towns and one lake”It also developed new tourist attractions such as”Tour around the city’s ancient canal”and“Dreaming Suzhou”a large-scale performance of ballet and acrobatics.By the end of 2006 there were 95 star hotels in the city，5 more than that in the previous year.20 of them were 4 or 5 star ones and total beds provided by these star hotels were over 20000.The standardization of tourist sites was in full swing and 13 scenery places were listed as 4A class.
