•    Historically one of China’s wealthiest cities, Suzhou is located near Lake Tai in East China’s Jiangsu province. The ancient city was characterised by eye-catching low-rise, whitewashed buildings with grey slate roofs set adjacent to a network of canals. Today, the city is split in two – the ancient city and the sprawling Suzhou Industrial Park. Essentially a small city in its own right, the SIP began as a joint venture between the Chinese and Singaporean governments, and is an acknowledged centre of hi-tech and electronics manufacturing and R&D, logistics and, increasingly, business process outsourcing.

•    A recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle marked out Suzhou as one of five thriving second-tier cities in China – along with Chengdu, Tianjin, Dalian and Hangzhou - that will become the benchmark against which commercial real estate performance in China is measured over the next decade.

•   Suzhou will forever be associated with Marco Polo’s likening of it as the ‘Venice of the East.’ A cherished tourism city, the primary attraction is its portfolio of nine UNESCO-protected traditional Chinese water gardens. 

•    In October, Hong Kong’s Wharf Properties paid RMB3.073 bn for a 1,258,402 sq. m parcel of land in the Suzhou Industrial Park.  As part of the planned development, it will build a 420 metre-high office tower.

 •    Since China launched its new CRH (China Railways High-Speed) bullet trains, modelled on Japan’s iconic speedsters, earlier this year, Suzhou is just 30 minutes by rail from Shanghai.

 •    Chinese-American architect I.M. Pei, the man who grafted a glass pyramid onto the side of the Louvre in Paris, designed the new Suzhou Museum. Located in Pei’s ancestral family home, it is only his second work in mainland China. The first was a hotel in Beijing.

 •    London’s Dulwich College opened its third school in China (after Shanghai and Beijing) in Suzhou, teaching an adapted form of the English National Curriculum. Meanwhile, colourful plastic shoe brand Crocs chose Suzhou as one of its five launch roll-out cities in China.

 •    Suzhou is currently building a new RMB2.5m railway station, and will shortly start construction of a four-line metro system.

 •    In October, Suzhou hosted the Golden Rooster Awards, nicknamed the ‘Chinese Oscars.’ In May, the city hosted the 2007 China International Logistics Technology and Services Expo.

 •    Suzhou is experiencing a hotel opening boom, both in the old city and around Jinji Lake in the Suzhou Industrial Park. Recent openings include Sofitel, Shilla, Kempinski, Shangri-La, Garden Hotel, Grand Metropark and the Regalia resort.
 

Last update : Thursday, 29 November 2007

Keywords : Suzhou, Facts, History, Lake Tai, Jiangsu, Second Tier City

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