Pingjiang Road Historic District
The layout of the Song dynasty “Pingjiang Map” (a 1229 stele) has persisted for 800 years — “water and land run parallel, rivers and streets lie side by side”; Pingtan Museum (Zhongzhangjia Lane) / Kunqu Opera Museum (historic stage of the Quanjin Guild Hall)
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- Open all day
- Ticket
- Free
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
The street-and-lane grid carved on the Southern Song Shaoding 2nd-year (1229) “Pingjiang Map” stele still survives around Pingjiang Road; its double-checkerboard pattern of “water and land running parallel, rivers and streets lying side by side” has endured nearly eight hundred years — the best-preserved historic district in Suzhou's old city and a model of living urban conservation in China. Little bridges, flowing water and riverside homes spread along the canal; sculled boats slip slowly under stone bridges, and the poetic scene of “when you come to Gusu, every home is pillowed on the river” is right at hand. In Zhongzhangjia Lane, the Pingtan Museum holds daily storytelling in soft Wu dialect, while the historic stage of the Quanjin Guild Hall is the crowning sight of the Kunqu Opera Museum. Teahouses, storytelling houses and Su-style restaurants hide among the white walls and dark tiles; by day, view the water lanes; by night, listen to pingtan — Pingjiang Road is the first stop for experiencing Gusu's slow-paced life.
Getting there: Metro Line 1, Xiangmen Station
Photos
More in Suzhou
- Humble Administrator's Garden
Built in the fourth year of the Ming Zhengde reign (1509) by Wang Xianchen, with Wen Zhengming participating in the design, the 'Mother of Chinese Gardens' (a representative Jiangnan garden): Hall of Distant Fragrance / Little Flying Rainbow (Suzhou's only covered bridge) / 'With Whom Shall I Sit' Pavilion
- Suzhou Museum (Main Building)
I.M. Pei's final masterpiece (opened 2006), 'Chinese yet new, Suzhou yet new'; the sliced-rock hillside borrows the white wall of the Humble Administrator's Garden as its backdrop
- Lion Grove Garden
Built in 1342 (2nd year of the Yuan Zhizheng era) by Zen Master Tianru (Lion Grove Chan Temple); a labyrinth of Taihu Lake rockeries ('kingdom of rockeries', nine interweaving routes); Emperor Qianlong visited six times and inscribed 'True Delight'
- Lingering Garden
Xu Taishi built the East Garden in the Ming Wanli era; Liu Shu's Hanbi (Cold Green) Villa in the Qing dynasty
- Master of the Nets Garden
Site of Southern Song Shi Zhengzhi's Wanjuan Hall ('Fisherman's Retreat'); rebuilt in the Qianlong era of the Qing by Song Zongyuan as the 'Master of the Nets' (fisherman, his self-styled name)
- Canglang Pavilion
Built in 1045 (5th year of the Northern Song Qingli era) by Su Shunqin, Suzhou's oldest surviving garden ('scenery before you enter the gate' — double corridor with lattice windows); the famous couplet 'A clear breeze and bright moon are priceless' (assembled from lines by Ouyang Xiu and Su Shunqin)