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Sister cities of Suzhou

Suzhou (Chinese: 苏州; pinyin: Sūzhōu; Suzhou dialect: [səu tsøʏ]), also transliterated as Soochow, is a major city in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part of the Yangtze River Delta region. Administratively, Suzhou is a prefecture-level city with an urban population of over 4 million in its core districts expanding to over 10 million in the administrative area. It is considered one of the richest major cities in China.

Originally founded in 514 BC, Suzhou has over 2,500 years of rich history, and relics of the past are abundant to this day. During the East Han Dynasty (100 AD), it was once one of the most populous cities in the world. Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), it has been an important commercial center of China. During the Ming and Qing Dynasty, Suzhou was the nation's economic, cultural and commercial center before it suffered the catastrophe of Taiping Rebellion in 1860. Three years later, Li Hongzhang and Charles George Gordon recaptured Suzhou, but Shanghai, under the protection of International Settlement from the disaster, had already taken its predominant place in the nation. The city was the largest noncapital city in the world between 1400 and 1850.

The city's canals, stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens have contributed to its status as one of the top tourist attractions in China. The classical gardens in Suzhou were added to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997 and 2000. Suzhou is often dubbed the "Venice of the East" or "Venice of China".

Content on this page is licensed under CC-BY-SA from the authors of the following Wikipedia pages: List of twin towns and sister cities in China, Suzhou. Note that the data on Wikipedia is highly unreliable. In many cases, sister cities are missing or wrongly listed. Some cities also have different levels of partnership. If you find an error, please make a correction on the relevant Wikipedia pages and cite your sources.

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