Suzhou city lies in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu of China. It is more than two thousand years old. This was the place that I had stayed for eight years before I came to Vancouver. I like Suzhou, especially its natural beauty. The natural beauty of Suzhou is one of the most important reasons for it to be a famous tourism city in China. Its natural beauty can be divided into three aspects: the classical gardens, the historical interest, and the beauty of water region.

First, I want to talk about the classical gardens in Suzhou. There were once over 200 gardens in the ancient time in this city. Now 69 of them are still in good preservation. All these gardens were the private properties of some high officials in ancient China. They built them just for the life after retirement. Hills and waters, flowers and trees, pavilion, terraces, towers and halls constitute the basic garden elements, while the prominent tone is expressed in the dark color of roof tiles, the grey bricks, and chestnut brown wooden pillars. In every season and in all weathers, the beautiful scenes can be found in these gardens. When enjoying tea, poem, flower arrangement or playing musical instrument in the garden, one can gain the most natural inspiration.

There are many historical sites in Suzhou city. The city gate and walls were built over 2000 years old. A lot of stone arched bridges spread all over the city. There are also many ancient temples and pagodas in the city such as The Hanshan Temple and The Tiger Hill pagoda. Every year at the night of the eve of New Year, there are thousands of people come to or stay around The Hanshan Temple to hear the sound of the bell of this temple. This sound symbolizes the happiness and peace. Besides there are great numbers of ancient trees, residential buildings in this city.

Suzhou is a city on water. The city is surrounded by lakes and criss-crossed by many horizontal and vertical small rivers which run along streets and alleys. The waves of green waters are seen in the Lakes, the downtown waterways, and the ponds of classical gardens. The people live by the water. Their houses are facing the waterways across the alleys, or leaning on the edge of the water, or hanging above the water. Small bridges and flowing waters, white walls and dark grey roof match one another. The scenes of waters are really attractive.

Suzhou is a beautiful city. I really hope people all over the world would go there to enjoy the beauty.