Dear loving readers and visitors,
This is the place I spent on my third day in China.
Below please find some useful information of my trip for your reading pleasure. This is a wonderful trip with lots of excitements and enjoyment. The beautiful scenery, both of well preserved ancient or modern building are so wonderful waiting for everyone of us to explore and venture. As such, we should wisely spend our time and not waste our time for not delve in those unhealthy activities which can only bring pain and hatred in our hearts.
Life is a gift. So, live with wisely and meaningfully so as to leave behind a legacy which our great heroes had done for us. Now, it is our turn to preserve these ancient buildings for our loved future generations.
Map of Jiangsu Water-town, Zhouzhuang.
A QUICK BRIEFING OF THIS GREAT ANCIENT TOWN, exacted from its website for your easy reading
Zhouzhuang is a township of Kunshan City - a county-level city under the jurisdiction of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. The town is situated between Suzhou and Shanghai, 30 km the southeast of Suzhou and 60 km the southwest of Shanghai.
Dubbed 'Venice of the East', this town boasts the best water town preserved in China. The town has a history of over 900 years and most of residencies and houses in the town were built in Ming (1368-1644) or Qing Dynasties (1644-1911).The rivers and streams in Zhouzhuang crisscross the town and are spanned by 14 stone-arch bridges constructed in Yuan (1271-1368), Ming, and Qing Dynasties. Many thanks to these waterways, the town avoided the chaos that might be caused by wars in the past dynasties and most of its architectural layouts have eventually remained intact.
There are many fantastic places and views to visit and see, including Twin Bridges, Fuan Bridge, Shen House, Milou Tower, and more. Many bridges in the town show unique bridge traditions different from other designs. The most amazing view displays a house where a boat can enter the property through the front gate and sail through the courtyard.
The public was aware of the beauty of Zhouzhuang in 1985 after the painting, the Remembrance of My Hometown, by Chen Yifei, was presented to Deng Xiaoping, the China’s most respected political veteran, by Mr. Armand Hammer, chairman the board of the Occidental Petroleum Corporation of the United States.
The town has been listed with the highest ranking of 5-AAAAA among the national tourist attractions, and in 2001 Zhouzhuang hosted the Informal Trade Ministerial Conference of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. This year the town has once again been selected as one of the top 50 China’s tourist attractions in a nationwide survey. There are more than 1 million tourists visiting the small water town each year.
Suzhou, the cradle of Wu Culture, is a city with a history of more than 2,500 years, tracing back to the later Shang Dynasty. While talking about Suzhou, the old saying mentions it as a “Paradise on the Earth” or the "East Venice of the World”, referring to its natural beauty, classical gardens, bridges and waters, traditional operas and soft dialect tone.
The city is well-known to its classical gardens, in which two of them have been listed as the great world heritage sites. Situated in the downstream of Yangtze River Drainage Basin and Yangtze River Delta economic zone, Suzhou has been a national tourist center and has attracted visitors around the world.
The passage of "The rivers and streams in Zhouzhuang crisscross the town and are spanned by 14 stone-arch bridges constructed in Yuan (1271-1368), Ming, and Qing Dynasties. Many thanks to these waterways, the town avoided the chaos that might be caused by wars in the past dynasties and most of its architectural layouts have eventually remained intact." attracted my attention the most.
For those of you who have read about the series of the unique and amazing bridges of mine, will know the greatness, these bridges have done for the human beings. Similarly, these 14 stone-arch bridges had done to people at that time.
Now, they still stand proudly serving the people in a different manner. I know that they bridge the differences between the human beings so as to preserve the peace and harmony of the world. Trust that these legacy will continue to remind us of the importance of having peace and harmony.
They are also standing there proudly to remind us be united and continue serving the people as they do. So, let these bridges touch our hearts and souls to transform us to be wise as them.
Hope that everyone of us can hear the loud and strong messages echoing from these bridges and let them put those unhealthy acts into shame. Let us be united and keep on educating people of this wisdom. Remember to share our blessings to these group of people. If those being blessed with God's wisdom don't care for them, then who else will care for them? Let the bridges be the light for our walk.
Wake up and stand up, like the bridge, proudly showing the way to bridge the differences of ideologies, genders, colors, social status and what ever differences either real or not.
James Oh
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