China | The Bridges & Canals of Suzhou

Suzhou's Bridges & Canals

Suzhou is one of China's Jiangsu Province "water towns," with a picturesque network of bridges and canals that were originally designed to transport goods and produce from the surrounding countryside to the inner city's many small shops and markets.

With the completion of the 1,100 mile-long Grand Canal in around 610 AD, Suzhou found itself strategically located along a major trade route between Beijing and Hangzhou. Suzhou was is linked to the Grand Canal by the Jiangnan Canal, which originates in Hangzhou, passing around the eastern side of Lake Tai, through the cities of Jiaxing, Suzhou, Wuxi and Changzhou.

In addition to the abundant rainfall that the region receives, much of the water in Suzhou originates from neighboring Lake Taihu (aka Lake Tai).

Suzhou's Canal Layout

Although Marco Polo declared Suzhou to be the land of "six thousand bridges," current estimates have the number at around 175 bridges. Suzhou's network of canals form a pattern of three verticals, three horizontals and one outer perimeter, known as the "suzhou outer ring."

The layout of Suzhou has a chessboard layout, characterized by "water and land in parallel, canal and street in neighbor." The canals are the life-blood of these water towns, and as such, are used for everything form transportation to washing (below, left) and waste disposal (below, right).

Luzhi, Zhouzhuang & Wuzhen

Suzhou shares the title of "water town" with its sister cities of Luzhi (Lu Zhi) 14 miles to the east, and Zhouzhuang (Zhou Zhuang), some 20 miles to the southeast. Zhouzhuang is also built on a system of canals crossed by a myriad of unique bridges. The Shide and Yongan Bridge form one of Zhouzhuang's most distinctive features, known popularly as the "Twin Bridges ." Wuzhen is another scenic water-town south of the Yangtze River in northern Zhejiang Province.

Other notable ancient "water towns" in the vicinity of Suzhou are Mudu Township, 10 km to the west, and Tong Li some 6 kilometers to the west, which borders Nanxin Lake to the south, and Tongli Lake to the east.