Suzhou: A city of gardens

A view at the Wangshi Garden, also known as Master-of-Nets Garden. [Provided To China Daily]

If Shanghai is a bustling city, Suzhou, a 20-minute high-speed rail trip from the metropolis, is the exact opposite. This laidback city is best known to tourists for its scenery.

Suzhou in Jiangsu province is often called Shanghai's backyard. This is because it was here that the groundwork for Shanghai's prosperity was laid.

The war between the Taiping Army rebels and Qing government soldiers in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) drove many local wealthy people from Suzhou to Shanghai to set up shop there, says Gu Fengjuan, a senior tour guide in Suzhou.

"That provided the first signs of prosperity for Shanghai," says Gu.

"You can still see many businesses in Shanghai today that originally came from Suzhou, such as the Leiyunshang Pharmacy."

Suzhou is best known to tourists for its scenery, especially its classic gardens, which number more than 100. Roughly 60 are well preserved.

The gardens were built by scholars, wealthy people, government officials and business people in ancient times to spend their retirement.

Zhong Hanyi, deputy head of the Suzhou municipal tourism administration's tourism promotion department says: "Most people come to see our parks and ancient town and experience Taihu Lake."

More than 6.43 million visitors from home and abroad flocked to the area during the recent seven-day National Day holiday, down five percent year on year.

However, tourism spending increased eight percent to 7.3 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), says Zhong.

The latest figures represent a trend of tourists shifting from just sightseeing tours to more in-depth travel, she said.

The number of one-day visitors to parks and ancient towns dropped roughly 10 percent during the holiday, while local inns and camping sites along the Taihu Lake were packed.

The local government has worked hard on improving traditional park tours to improve the visitor experiences.