Suzhou

1
Suzhou Heaven on Earth
Lin Lu Feb 2004
2
Summary

• City Introduction
• Suzhou Garden
• How to experience Suzhou Garden art
• Humble Administrators Garden
• Lion Forrest Garden
• Suzhou Embroidery
• Suzhou today
• Gift Choices
• Links

3
Suzhou Land of Fish and Rice
4
Suzhou - Introduction

• 8488 sq kilometers (3277 sq miles)
• 53 mile west from Shanghai
• Population 570,000
• 9 gardens in Suzhou listed in the World Cultural
  Heritage by UNESCO
• In 2002, GDP 208B Yuan (US25 billion), ranking
  5th in China.
• GDP grew by 17.6 in first 3
• quarters of 2003

5
Suzhou Venice in the East

• Of the whole area, 10 is cultivated fields, 30
  hills, and 60 covered with water.
• Museum of bridges. Now 161 bridges have remained
  inside the city. There were 314 bridges in
  history.

6
Suzhou City of Gardens

• Imitation of natural scenery to meet the
  intellectual and emotional needs
• Asymmetric composition (different from European
  Gardens)
• Interactive experiences

7
Window Catching the unique view
8
Multiple Layouts --- extend depth of the scene

• Corridors divided limited space
• a microcosm of the world made of the basic
  elements
• Interactive view each step with a surprisingly
  new view.

9
Suzhou Garden interior view

• Functionality
• Harmony with nature
• Interwoven with Taoist metaphysics of  Laozi and
  Zhuangzi
• Heavy decorated windows and doors

10
Suzhou Garden intertwined with Chinese Culture

• the classical gardens of Suzhou are noteworthy
  places with unique architectural forms carrying
  poetic names in plateaux and parallel couplets in
  excellent calligraphy with literary allusion
  which help to enhance the beauty of the whole
  property

11
The Humble Administrator's Garden

• First laid out in 1509 A.D.
• Largest classic garden in Suzhou (51,950 sq
  meters 13 acres)
• traditional appearance of Ming Dynasty simple,
  smooth.
• Garden is divided into three parts. (East,
  Central, and west)

12
The Lion Forest Garden

• Built in 1342 A.D.
• Original was part of a Buddhism temple
• Famous for the great quantities of its Taihu
  rocks that form an intriguing maze of mountian
  paths and varied scenes,
• many of Taihu Rocks looks link lions

13
Aesthetic Views everywhere
14
Suzhou -- Home of Silk

• Suzhou embroidery is characterized by beautiful
  pattern, elegant colors, and rich and meticulous
  stitching.
• Representative images include "Kitten",
  "Goldfish", "Landscape", "Portrait", etc..

15
Suzhou Fast Growing City

• China-Singapore Suzhou Industrial Park
• investments of US13.15 billion By April 2002,
• with 3 projects surpassing US1 billion each
• Suzhou New Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone
• By 2000, the accumulated contractual foreign
  investment was 35.56 billion USD with actually
  utilized foreign capital of 20.3 billion.
• 172 projects in Suzhou are invested by 77 MNCs
  among the Fortune 500.

16
Suzhou -- Metropolis of Arts

• City of Talents-- famous Suzhou literati,
  artists, statesman, architects, calligraphers,
  played decisive roles and exerted great
  influences throughout the history of China.
• Wu Culture -- an important part of the history
  of Chinese culture and art.

17
Perfect Gift from Suzhou
Pastry
Palace Fan
Green Tea BiLuoChun
Embroidery
18
Links

• http//www.2500sz.com/english/suzhou/traditional-c
  ulture/index.htm
• http//www.szgarden.com.cn/english/index.htm
• Slides will be posted on the web site of China
  Business Association
• www.mccombs.utexas.edu/students/CBA