China Travel Guide

Yuwang Temple is located in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. Yuwang is also clued King Yu or the Great Yu, who was believed to be the King of Xia, the legendary first Chinese dynasty of the twenty-second to sixteenth century B.C. He was remembered for his extraordinary efforts in flood control. The temple was first built in the sixth century and has since been rebuilt on many occasions. It is composed of the Meridian Gate (Wumen), Memorial Hall, and the Main Hall, all of which were built on the same axis. Da Yu’s statue stood inside the magnificent twenty-four-meter-high Main Hall, which is double-eaved with painted ridge poles and engraved beams.

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Located at the foot of Dengwei Mountain, city of Wuxian, the Prime Minister Temple is so named because this is the place where the former prime minister, Deng Yu used to live in during the East Han Dynasty. The four cypresses are said to be planted by Deng Yu. These cypresses have a long history of 1900 years. Qianlong, one of the emperors in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) once visited and gave the four old cypresses four words “comely, strange, old, and odd.” It is comely because of its green color. It is strange that the trunk has already broken off and is empty but still stands firmly. It is old certainly because of its long history. It is odd because the limbs of the trees enwind three circles on the ground, which looks like dragons. The corridor is caved with scriptures, which is a mystery to sutra research, calligraphy and art of inscriptions.

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Luzhi is a famous water town in Jiangsu Province. In the local people’s parlance, there are seventy-two and half bridges in the town which turgidly represents the large number of the bridges. The Sanbuerqiao means “three steps can reach two bridges” and these two bridges refer to Wan’an Bridge and Sanyuan Bridge. Numerous rivers crisscross in the town. At the intersection of every two rivers, there are two bridges which are in right-angled. The Wan’an Bridge and Sanyuan Bridge spanning on Tang River are the representatives of the beautiful water town.

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Baodai Bridge, located 7.5km southeast of Suzhou, spans on the Daidai River. The Baodai Bridge earns the reputation of “the First Bridge in Suzhou”. Precious Belt Bridge, one of the most famous and grandiose adornments of the Grand Canal, is located 7.5km southeast of Suzhou. It spans on the Daidai River, at the intersection of the Grand Canal and Lake Tantai. Precious Belt Bridge enjoys the reputation of “the First Bridge in Suzhou”. In the Yuanhe period of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Zhongshu, an official of Suzhou sold his precious belt in order to collect money to build the bridge. The local rich men were moved by his action and contributed sufficient money for building the bridge. To commemorate Wang Zhongshu, the bridge was given the name “Precious Belt”. The present bridge was rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). There used to be two stone lions at each side of the bridge. The two stone lions at the south side sank into the river while the two standing at the north still stood firmly.

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Built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Mingshan Hall is located in Yangwan of Dongshan village. It is a folk construction for family to live in and is full of art value. There are numerous brick carvings, wood carvings, color paintings and stone carvings in the house. The Chinese characters “fossil of five trillion years”, “poems written by farmers and fishermen”, “great happiness” and “the most important is to teach your children and to be generous to everybody” are carved on the walls or columns are the treasure of Mingshan Hall. Now, the hall is a provincial level historic reservation and also a famous scenic spot around Tai Lake.

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Luxiang Ancient Village is located on the bank of the Tai Lake. It is an ancient village that is high in quality, most in number, best preserved in south of the Yangtze River. The Luxiang Ancient Village is the hometown of Wang Ao, the prime minister in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Wang Ao used to be the gateway of Xieyuan , Huiyuan (the first place in metropolitan exams), and Tanhua (number three on imperial examination). Now the three gateways of Xieyuan, Huiyuan and Tanhua still stood firmly there.

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Located in the middle of the West Mountain, Piaomiao Peak is the highest peak in the West Mountain. It ranks first of the seventy-two peaks in the area of the Tai Lake.

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“The Best Water Town in China—Luzhi,” is Fei Xiaotong. The vice-chairman of the National People’s Congress Committee highly praised this water town. Luzhi, has a long history of 2,500 years and is famed for its ancient civilization. Ancient bridges, ancient streets, ancient houses and ancient maidenhair trees tell us the long history of the city.

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The Happy Farmhouse in Kiln Village is situated in the Guangfu Scenic Area, which is surrounded with mountains, rivers and streams. This area is rich with sweet-scented osmanthus, loquats, waxberries and clubs. The especially sweet-scented osmanthus covers a planting area of 666.7sqkm, which makes the scenic area well-known. In the Kiln Village of this area, every farm family does embroidery. Beautiful bonsais are every where. If you visit here, you may live and have dinners in the farmhouses and experience the life of farmers.

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The Zhang Lin Park is located 1.5km southwest of Luzhi town. Following the north road of Fucheng and then leading southward to Dongzhuangbang, the first thing that came in sight is a very tall but small hill lying in the center of the garden. This is the Zhanglin Hill, which is said to be the tomb of the Prime Minister Zhang Cang in the Han dynasty. In addition, there are lots of famous scenic spots in this garden, such as 24 Pieties Palace, Fishing Pond, Four Directions Hall and so on.

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