Suzhou - Panmen Scenic Area

Panmen (Panmen), formerly known as Panmen, is located at No. 49 Dongda Street, Gusu District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. In the sixth year of King Jing of Zhou (514 BC), King Helü of Wu commanded Wu Zixu to build the capital city of the Spring and Autumn Wu Kingdom, and Panmen was one of the eight gates of the Wu capital. The name comes from the wooden coiled dragon that was once hung on the gate to intimidate the state of Yue, and because it 'half water and half land, winding along', it got its name. The overall layout and architectural structure of Panmen have basically maintained the old view of the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, with the water and land gates staggered north and south, and the overall plan is in the shape of a curved ruler, facing 10 degrees east of south. Panmen is the only ancient city gate with both water and land gates that has been preserved intact in China, built successively during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. There is also a Wu Xiang Shrine in the Panmen Scenic Area. Finally, there is a water bus at Panmen that goes to Xiangmen, with the last boat at 4 pm, but this is not part of the scenic area, and the ticket is not interchangeable. You need to buy a separate ticket, and you have to leave the scenic area; you cannot go back the same way.