
Suzhou has a recorded history of over 4,000 years. During the spring and autumn period, King Shoumeng of the eastern zhou dynasty established the state of wu. In the sixth year of king jing of zhou (514 bc), king helu of wu began building the city of suzhou. In the qin dynasty, wu county was established. In the ninth year of the kaihuang era of the sui dynasty (589 ad), it was first called suzhou. In the 17th year of the republic of china (1928), the city of suzhou was established. Suzhou is a city along the grand canal that applied for world heritage status with the concept of an ancient city, famous as a jiangnan water town. From the construction of helu's great city by wu zixu during the spring and autumn period to the present day, suzhou has maintained its unique "parallel land-water" double chessboard layout with "rivers and streets side by side", characterized by "small bridges, flowing water, white walls, black tiles, and historic gardens", earning it the reputation of "paradise on earth".
