Suzhou， the cradle of Wu Culture， is a city with a history of more than 2，500 years， tracing back to the later Shang D While talking about Suzhou， the old saying mentions it as a “Paradise on the Earth” or the "East Venice of the World”， referring to its natural beauty， classical gardens， bridges and waters， traditional operas and soft dialect The city is well-known to its classical gardens， in which two of them have been listed as the great world heritage Situated in the downstream of Yangtze River Drainage Basin and Yangtze River Delta economic zone， Suzhou has been a national tourist center and has attracted visitors around the Not just for its natural beauty， its splendid history， or its cultural heritage， Suzhou’s economy represents the highest growth and the fastest expansion in the past 5-10 years in the region and in C The city’ GDP has surpassed its any other neighbor cities except Shanghai in the region and more than 80 of the world top 500 corporations listed on the Fortune have set their offices in the suzhou is one of thirteen prefecture cities of Jiangsu and the cities including Changshu， Taicang， Kunshan， Wujiang and Zhangjiagang are under its The flower emblematic of the city is osmanthus and the city tree is camphor Geography， Resources and Climate -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suzhou is in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu between north latitude 30°47’ - 32°02’， east longitude 119°55’ - 121°20’ The city borders its great neighbor， Shanghai， on the east， Wuxi on the west， and other three cities of Zhejiang Province on the Dubbed "East Venice of the World” Suzhou is crisscrossed by rivers and Yangtze River， the most spectacular river in the region， flows through the city’s north boundary but the Grand Canal runs down from north to The city has the jurisdiction over the Lake Taihu， being equal to about 2/3 of the proportion of the lake， nestling in its southwest Yangcheng Lake， located in Changsu， attracts hundreds of thousands of travelers， coming each year to enjoy its beauty and aquatic Five county-level cities under Suzhou’s jurisdiction are Zhangjiagang， Changshu， Taicang， Kunshan and Wujiang， nestling in from northeast to southeast of the city in Suzhou is under the influence of East Asia M The city has a mild and humid climate and is easily accessible by water， land and air Seasons are distinct， with usually hot summers and plenty of precipitation throughout the The average annual temperature is close to 20°C Jurisdiction -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Suzhou jurisdiction includes twelve county-level divisions， of which five are districts， five are cities， and two are special industrial The districts are the old urban areas of Suzhou while the five cities are recently designated as county-level districts being considered as suburbs and governed by the Suzhou city The special industrial zones are specifically designated as new investment
Discussed shallowly the Suzhou tourism product development manages Under Suzhou big traveling development prospect， facing traveling source of tourists market demand and discontented， discusses the Suzhou tourism product development the superiority and the inferiority， thus acts appropriately to the situation， carries on the conformity and the structure to Suzhou's tourism product optimizes， promotes Suzhou's traveling image， to enhance the Suzhou traveling destination the attraction to make the essential product development innovation， abolishes the old system malpractice， forms a coordinated development the tourism product market， but is not the inferiority which pieces together forms
美国中学教师史蒂芬·考斯是一个通晓苏州的人。出于对苏州的热爱，他花了将近八年时间，撰写了一本全面讲述苏州历史的英文书——《美丽苏州：中国苏州的社会史和文化史》（“Beautiful Su：A Social and Cultural History of Suzhou，China”），向西方读者讲述这座美丽城市从公元前514年吴王阖闾登基到21世纪的漫长历史。在史蒂芬的笔下，苏州雄立于文字和意象之上：苏州长达2500多年的历史不光记录在典故和古籍里，还凝固在这个城市的城门、古墙、河道、街巷、寺庙、集市和园林中。他向西方读者揭示了苏州在其优美园林和古老习俗之外更重要的存在：儒家思想、亲近自然、多才多艺的文人墨客和他们清高出尘的艺术修养、对国家的忠诚和贡献以及对传统、先祖的尊重。机缘巧合与苏结缘一见钟情立志著书史蒂芬·考斯和苏州的缘分，开始于他在就职的中学里给一个学生社团做指导老师。来自亚洲的学生们不断向他提起中国，引起了他的兴趣。2001年暑假，史蒂芬·考斯跟随旅行团，满怀期待地踏上了中国的土地。北京、上海、香港……这些城市的风土人情让他赞叹不已，但是苏州的美更让他一见钟情。“苏州园林令人着迷，非常美，非常特别。苏州当年规模也小，很适合闲逛，置身它的角角落落来体验这座城市，”史蒂芬回忆道，“这个城市非常有趣。我当时就决定，一定要再来苏州，我想看到更多，想了解苏州更多。”在之后的几年里，每逢暑假，史蒂芬都会来到苏州小住，结识本地的朋友。在苏州住得越久，和苏州人接触得越多，史蒂芬对苏州的兴趣就越浓，他不再满足于看到苏州的美景，而是更想了解苏州的历史和文化。2006年退休之后，他在苏州住了整整6个月，跑遍了苏州的新华书店、外文书店和苏州图书馆。可是，他只找到一些介绍苏州风光的画册图书，上面提供的简单信息完全无法满足史蒂芬想挖掘苏州历史的心。回美国后，史蒂芬继续寻找有关苏州的资料。他努力穷尽图书馆和互联网，找到了很多研究苏州的学术论文。“虽然这些论文研究得很深，也很有趣，让我了解了很多关于苏州的事情，但是这不是我想要的，这些研究都只研究了苏州某个朝代的某个侧面，零零碎碎的。我找不到一本读了就能全面完整地了解苏州的书。于是我想，我还是自己写一本吧，写一本我想买却买不到的书。”史蒂芬说。历六年积累资料易十稿新书问世史蒂芬决定写一本适合普通人看的苏州通史，附带介绍苏州的文化。这位美国大叔不光从美国的图书馆里借阅了一切可借阅的资料，还从亚马逊上购买珍贵的旧书。他花了整整六年的时间，阅读了475本关于苏州的书籍和文献。“这本《美丽苏州》（Beau?tiful Soo）是我找到的最早的一本专门讲苏州的书，是个在中国住了几十年的传教士写的。我很喜欢这本书。我的书也起名字叫《美丽苏州》（‘Beauti?ful Su’），只把苏的拼写方法换成现在的写法，算是向那本1911年出版的书致敬。”“写这本书的时候，最难的就是整理资料。那么多信息、人物和事件，查找起来十分困难。”为了能方便地从庞大的资料库里找到需要的内容，史蒂芬建立了一套条理明晰的系统，按照朝代建立文件夹，把相关的事件和信息分门别类地归纳起来。“资料很多很麻烦，但是写书很有意思。我觉得最有趣的一件事情就是发现曾经的苏州就像巴黎一样，有着当时国内最优秀的学者，出了许多官员；是国内的经济中心和文人最心仪的退隐之地。整整五六百年里，苏州都是全国的时尚中心：服装款式、建筑模式、美食烹饪、音乐戏剧……苏州流行什么，全国都会跟风。直到太平天国攻入了苏州，才造成了上海和苏州地位的互换，并影响至今。”史蒂芬兴致勃勃地说道。经过六年的精心准备，史蒂芬埋首写作近两年，终于于2014年完成了这本著作。经过一个多月的奔波联络，一家专门出版中国相关书籍的美国出版社“中国图书”（China Books）向他伸出了橄榄枝。在出版社的帮助下，史蒂芬又进一步在原稿的基础上进行了修改，经历了10稿修订之后，《美丽苏州：中国苏州的社会史和文化史》于2015年在美国出版发售，2016年其Kindle版在美国亚马逊上推出。跑宣传不畏艰难盼苏州扬名海外
