Shopping in Suzhou,Suzhou Travel,Suzhou Travel Guide, Suzhou Adventure Guide, China Travel Guide

Suzhou silk enjoys international fame for its quality, bright colours and wide varieties. Suzhou's silk production history began in the Neolithic Age over 5,000 years ago. Suzhou has become the centre of silk production throughout the country since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Pure silk, mixed woven silk as well as the filament make up the three categories made in Suzhou. The Suzhou Silk Museum is the best place to learn more about silk production in the region and to view some of the finest produced silk in history.

Suzhou Embroidery is one of the four most well-known embroidery schools in China. Dating back to the Song Dynasty hundreds of years ago, embroidery in Suzhou features adept handcraft with rich stitch varieties.

Suzhou padauk carving has a long history. It has had the style of simple modeling, upright and straight lines ever since Ming dynasty. It is finished excellently and well polished.

The wood for padauk carving products is mainly used to decorate meeting rooms, dining rooms, tubules. They include beds, tables, sofas and wardrobes. There are other products like boxes, plates, rolling scrolls, etc. Tub-shaped objects, chests and animals, flowers, characters are engraved in the way of shallow relief, relief sculpture and engraving.

The writing brush is now a specialty of Suzhou. These brushes are used in the expert art of calligraphy. The Huzhou brush uses only the finest raw materials and expert technology in production. There are more than 300 varieties of brush, classified into six categories and each one made from a different type of hair. Goat hair, mixed hair, Purple hair and weasel hair are just a few of the varieties available. The type of brush also varies.

Suzhou fans are famous at home and abroad. It has a long history. The exquisite sandalwood fan, folding fan, silk palace fan, and paper fan are all characteristic of arts. The production of sandalwood fan includes zigzag shaped steel thread on the two ends of a bamboo bow and the engraving of flowers with it. The folding fans of Suzhou are characteristic of being fine and elegant. The frame is mainly made of bamboo carved or painted, and pieces of white bones with elegant flowers. The silk palace fan is the most famous one among the fans. It spread far and wide since Han dynasty. There are round, hexagon, and rectangle ones. Its face is made of silk. Some are made of thin silk or cloth.

Sweet
The most renowned sweet shop is Caizhizhai on Guanqian Street, established in 1870. Apart from its colorful bonbons, Caizhizhai also sells various kinds of preserved fruits and melon-seeds. It is said that Empress Dowager Cixi was delighted by Caizhizhai's rice dumpling candies, sent to her by a doctor. She named the candy an imperial tribute, which greatly increased Caizhizhai's reputation.

Pastries
Suzhou has a long history of growing glutinous rice, giving rice to a fine array of pastries. Traditionally in China, pastries are an auspicious food, symbolizing happiness and reunion. Huangtianyuan on Guanqian Street, founded in 1821, is the most well known pastry shop in the city. It offers traditional pastries such as lard cakes and osmanthus cakes, and has created over 100 kinds of new pastries.

Suzhou tea cakes are all famous, Aromatic date and sesame cakes with pine nuts, thousand-layer pastry and petite sesame bun,. Legend has it that Emperor Qianlong tasted a date and sesame cake with pine nuts from Daoxiangcun on Guanqian Street and fell in love with it immediately. He bestowed on the shop a plaque to boast Daoxiangcun's reputation far and wide.

The street is well known for many one-century characteristic shops such as Daoxiangcun Confectionery Shop, Qiantaixiang Silk Shop, Huangtianyuan Round Dumpling Shop. Its cater street which is located between Taijian Lane and Bifeng Lane is well-known for Suzhou-style Dishes in south of Yangtze River, the National Key Preservation Unit the Mysterious Taoist Temple on the street attracts both home and foreign visitors with its profound Taoism culture.

After one century's rise and decline, now, The reconstructed Guanqian area has been becoming urban commercial, cultural, religion and travel center with rich local color, sound traffic network, perfect infrastructure and excellent investment environment.
　

Shiquan Street is located in hotel area in Suzhou ancient city,There strew many Ming-and-Qing-Dynasty-style architectures which are characteristic restaurants and craftwork shops. Shiquan Street is well-known for its craftworks such as Suzhou Embroidery, chinaware antique, calligraphy and painting, chinaware, silk, inscriptions, jade, rosewood articles, there are everything that you expect to find.

The Street is located in Jinchang District of Suzhou City, it is named after "Store Road" in English as it paved with stone in late Qing Dynasty. It was renewed at the end of 2003 and then opened to public on New Year's Day of 2004.

The street sprinkled with large-sized musical fountains, towering trees, beautiful neon lights and clean rivers. The commercial arrangement of Shilu area has a new adjustment as well. Xinfeng Lane is to be restored and become a special street with cafes and pubs. Stores in the street are busy with decoration now. People can enjoy the leisure life there after doing shopping. The formal opening of Shilu pedestrian shopping street also stimulates consumers' popular enthusiasm on the market at night in the Shilu commercial area. The business time of the stores on Shi Road is prolonged to 10 o'clock pm.

Qiantaixiang Silk Piece Goods Store
This store was opened in 1870, and sells fabrics suck as wool, velvet, cotton, and silk. It is well known for selling high quality goods, and maintains a high reputation among both its foreign and local customers.

Suzhou Caizhizai Candies Store
This store has been making and selling candy, candied fruits, nuts, and seed since it was founded in 1870. Its products are colorful and tasty, containing flavors typical of the region.