Shantang Street

Ancient canal street built on the orders of the poet Bai Juyi in 825 AD

Shantang Street runs for 3.5km from the city centre out to Tiger Hill, following a canal dug in the Tang dynasty. The lower half, closest to Tiger Hill, has been heavily commercialised with souvenir shops and tourist restaurants, but the middle and upper sections retain genuine old street character: whitewashed walls, stone bridges crossing the narrow canal, and traditional houses with wooden lattice screens above the waterline. Evening is the best time, when the canal reflects strings of red lanterns.

The neighbourhood around Shantang is one of the few places in Suzhou outside the formal gardens where you can feel the original texture of the city. Side alleys lead to small courtyards, old teahouses, and workshops still producing traditional crafts. Boats operate along the canal for those who want to see the street from the water. The ride to Tiger Hill takes about thirty minutes and gives a different perspective on the canal-based layout of old Suzhou.

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A story
The street was commissioned in 825 AD by the Tang-dynasty poet Bai Juyi when he served as governor of Suzhou. Bai Juyi is better remembered as one of China's greatest poets than as an administrator, but the 7-li canal-side road he ordered built remained the commercial artery of the city for a thousand years. The Seven Cats of Shantang — seven stone cat sculptures along the street — came later, playing on a pun between the words for "cat" and "good luck" in the local Wu dialect.

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