Overview
Suzhou covers an area of 8,488 square meters and consists of six county-level towns with a population of over 6 million. With a history of more than 2,500 years, the ancient city, boasting splendid scenery, rich cultural heritage and abundant agricultural products, it is situated in the Lower Yangtze basin by the side of lake Taihu. Suzhou is surrounded by more than 20 lakes. Narrow waterways thread between white-walled houses to link up with the Grand Canal, making the city the 'Venice of China'.
Climatically, Suzhou has distinct seasons, with a yearly temperature averaging 15.7 degrees Centigrade and precipitation 1,250 mm. The city tree is the camphor, the flower osmanthus.

Ever since the founding of Suzhou as the capital of the Wu Kingdom in 514 B.C., it has been the political, economic and cultural center of the region. As a place famed for its well-known scholars, successful merchants, great architects and distinguished artists, Suzhou provides favorable conditions for the creation and development of classical gardens, among which the Humble Administrators Garden, the Lingering Garden, the Lion Cave Grove and the Master of nets Garden are the most famous and the masterpieces of the Suzhou Gardening Art.

Attractions

The Humble Administrator's Garden
  Located at 178 Dongbei Street of Suzhou, the Humble Administrator's Garden is the largest garden in the city, and it is also regarded as the 4 most famous gardens in China, together with the Summer Palace of Beijing, the Mountain Summer Resort of Chengde, and the Lingering Garden of Suzhou.

  The garden's site used to be a scholar garden during the Tang Dynasty, and later became a monastery garden for the Dahong Temple during the Yuan Dynasty. In 1513, during the Ming Dynasty reign of Emperor Zhengde, an administrator named Wang Xianchen appropriated the temple and converted it into a private villa with gardens, which were constructed by digging lakes and piling the resultant earth into artificial islands. Since 1949, the garden has been undergone several renovations, and opened to the public in 1954. The present garden covers an area of 1.867 hectares (4.67 acres), and three-fifth of the garden is taken up by water.

  Today's garden is only very loosely related to its earliest version, but closely resembles its late Qing appearance, with numerous pavilions and bridges set among a maze of connected pools and islands. It consists of three major parts set about a large lake: the central part (Zhuozheng Yuan), the eastern part (once called Guitianyuanju, Dwelling Upon Return to the Countryside), and a western part (the Supplementary Garden). The house lies in the south of the garden.

  In total, the garden contains 48 different buildings with 101 tablets, 40 stelae, 21 precious old trees, and over 700 Suzhou-style bonsai.

Garden of Net Master (Wangshiyuan)
  Garden of Net Master is the smallest among the four most famous classic gardens in Suzhou, yet it is the most impressive, thanks to the architect who used its limited space smartly to create the illusion of a much larger area. Even more than the architectural achievement is the sense of tranquility and harmony that this humble garden embodies.

  This exquisite garden was first built during the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279) as part of a residence, which was in use until the Taiping Rebellion took place in the 1860's. It later became the residence of a government official and was given its present name. It is said that by giving his garden such a name, he indicated that he would rather be a fisherman than a bureaucrat.

  The garden is divided into three sections: the residential quarters, the central garden and the inner garden. Surrounding the big pond in the main garden, there are structures such as the Ribbon Washing Pavilion and the Pavilion of Moon and Wind Advent. As is commonly seen in Suzhou gardens, there is a small pavilion standing in the center of the pond, a bridge of less than one-foot wide linking it to the shore.

  When you walk in the garden's corridors, through the windows, you often catch views of beautiful flowers or plants in distance. As a private mansion, the garden is obviously designed for the convenience of the family members and their guests. From any of its buildings, you can always find easy access to the main garden. The rooms, furnished in the Song-dynasty style, are quite impressive too.

  The exquisite inner garden, recognized as the best preserved garden in Suzhou, has been copied as the Ming Hall Garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and miniaturized for an exhibit in the Pompidou Center in Paris in 1982.