Tongli Water Town, in the southwest of Suzhou,
is one of the “Top Six Ancient Towns in Jiangnan (Regions South of Yangtze River)” in China with a long history of over 1,000 years.
Enjoying the advantageous location of being surrounded by water and linked by old stone bridges,
Tongli is the symbol of water town in southern China. Therefore,
it is regarded as the “Oriental Venice” as well as a “Natural Photo Studio” by people
from the whole world and is titled the “National AAAAA Tourist Attraction”.
Moreover, since it still well keeps a series of ancient structures from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties,
like the “Retreat & Reflection Garden” which is a World Cultural Heritage Site praised by many poets,
Tongli is a perfect place to savor the authentic flavor of old water town in China
and the real leisure life of the charming Jiangnan region.
Tongli was established in the Song Dynasty over 10 centuries ago and was first named Fu Tu.
But it changed to be called as Tong Li so not to be too extravagant.
And later people finally changed its name again into the present Tongli.
According to the history, Tongli is a key place in the ancient Wu region,
and since it could communicate with the outside world only by boat, there were few wars or turbulence.
And then, it became an ideal place for people to escape from the social upheaval and settle down.
