Tongli Town

Tongli, an ancient town in the Yangtze River Delta, located south of Suzhou city in Jiangsu Province. The town has a total area of 102.91 sq. km with a population of 58,000. The scenic Tongli is is surrounded by five lakes, which are named Tongli, Jiuli, Yeze, Nanxing and Pangshan. The town is divided into 7 small islands by 15 rivers connected by 49 ancient bridges, making these islands an integrated area. The architecture built by riverside, famous for "small bridge, flowing stream and thatched households", which make Tongli town the best-reserved town by riverside as well as the key cultural relic’s protection unit of provincial level, which has been listed as one of 13 scenic spots of  Tai Lake.

Pretty and rustic  Tongli town is famous for its fertile paddy fields, rich natural resources and outstanding natives, thus crowned as "Small Oriental Venice". Tongli is characterized by a large number of buildings in Ming and Qing Dynasties, small bridges and celebrities. Tongli has 38 houses in these periods, as well as 47 ancient temples. And there are ancestral halls and around 100 personal houses of local rich and famous people. In the past, Tongli town features over 20 natural interesting places including "Eight Scenes Ahead", "Eight Scenes Back" and "Successive Four Scenic Spots", while new attractions are "Eyeing on the Moon by East Creek", "Mist in Southern Area", "Overlooking on Top of Northern Hill", "Flute form Fishing Households" and "Flourishing Vegetation of the Hill".