Suzhou has been the land of rice and fish since it was built 2500 years ago. A lot of water towns are distracted around the downtown of Suzhou including Zhouzhuang(周庄), Tongli(同里) which are well-known by tourists. I would like to introduce Mudu(木渎) ancient town, which is the nearest one to Suzhou and famous for the gardens.

Of course, any ancient town can't be developed well without waterways. Mudu has two main rivers. One is  Xujiang and the other is Xiangxi.

Xiangxi was named after Xishi, one of top 4 the most famous beauties in old times of China. It was reported the bathing water was flowed into the river after she bathed and the river smelled fragrant, so local people changed its name to Xiangxi.

Actually, Mudu has interesting story behind its name. The king of Wu county asked his warriors to build the palace for his beauty, Xisi, on the summit of Lingyan mountain over 2500 years ago. Many woods were collected from all over the country and the river was often stuffed by these woods. The stuffed woods in Chinese was the same pronunciation of the current name.

There are so many bridges around the town that local people can work and live conveniently.   

The boats are the best traffic transportation to be taken to experience local lifestyle by tourists.

The Yan Family's Garden is well-known for Mr Yan Jiagan, who had been vice president of Taiwan.

The garden consists of four seasons' small gardens and some living houses.

The owners could enjoy beautiful landscapes in each season without going out of the garden.

Hongyin Mountain Villa Garden had been famous for emperor Qianlong in Qing dynasty.

The owner of the garden loved operas very much, so Qianlong did. The emperor must come here to watch the operas if only he visited Suzhou.

The Imperial Examinations Hall shows us some funny stuffs in old times. For instance, we can't believe there were over 20 thousands Chinese words in a small piece of paper without witnessing on the site, which was written when someone wanted to cheat in the imperial examinations.

At the same time, good writting words would be circled by judges.

Over 20  original imperial edicts were exhibited in the Imperial Edicts Hall.

Tiny shoes were worn by the women in old times.

The pool is full of tender lotuses.  

Twined pavilions

We are not the fish, of course, we can't know if they are happy or not.

There are some other attractions besides the gardens around the old street, such as Mingyue old temple with 1700 plus years old, some unique shops and Xiangxi ART+ area.

Tourists can witness how black rice is made in Wuzhentang and taste the delicious black rice if they happen to travel in Mudu.

The unique sweet crackers with sesame seeds on the top are the best souvenirs  in the town.

Xiangxi ART+ is a refreshing tourism area including lovely small restaurants, tea bars and boutique hotels.

Jiushu Resorts(玖树) is the dream home for Tourists when they are traveling in Suzhou. It is a new opening themed hostelry based on the local culture and tranqil lifestyle.