Shopping in Suzhou

Besides famous for silk and embroidery, Suzhou offers many must-buys, such as sandal wood folding fans, silk fans, wood cut paintings, jade carvings, calligraphy, paintings and silk lingerie. The green teas, velvet blankets, moon-cakes and pine-seed candies are also worth buying.  Gifts for friends are easily available here. Suzhou has another unique feature - hair embroidery, a special technique that uses human hair to be worked onto a silk backing.  There is also kesi, or carved silk, which makes use of a weaving process that mixes raw and boiled silk.  Material of this type was once reserved for imperial robes but can now be bought as paintings, scrolls and waistbands.

Shopping Streets in Suzhou 

Guangqian Street
Guanqian Street is a commercial center of Suzhou and a resort for native people at night and on the weekends.  Since the Qing Dynasty, all sorts of shops with different brands and dozens of department stores were gathered here.  In year 1999, Suzhou Municipal Government reconstructed this famous street, which infused this ancient street with fresh blood.  The present Guanqian Street remains the original style expect that it is more prosperous.

Shiquan Street
It is situated in the hotel area in ancient downtown of Suzhou.  The famous Nanlin Restaurant, Suzhou Restaurant, Nanlin Hotel as well as the classical garden of The Master-of-Nets Garden are located on this street. It strews Ming-and-Qing-Dynasty-style architectures there and here. Shiquan Street is well known for its craftworks like Suzhou Embroidery chinaware antique, calligraphy and painting, chinaware, silk, inscriptions, jade, rosewood articles, etc. Modern industrial products, curios and art crafts are also available here.

Shilu (Stone Road) Pedestrian-zed Shopping Street
It is located in Jinchang District.  It is said the street had already been very prosperous in ancient time.  Reconstructed in 2003, and now it becomes one of the best shopping centers in Jiangsu Province.  Xinfeng Lane here is to be restored and become a special street with cafes and pubs.  People can enjoy the leisure life there after doing shopping.  The formal opening of Shilu Pedestrian-zed Shopping Street also stimulate consumers' popular enthusiasm with the market at night in the Shilu commercial area.  Business hours of the stores on Shilu (Stone Road) are prolonged to 10 PM. 

Taoist Temple Street
It is the busiest shopping mall located in the city center.  The well-known Temple of Mystery on this street is a national monument. 

Other Suzhou Shopping Places

Suzhou Shopping Center
It is a large state-owned retail enterprise under the umbrella of Suzhou Wujiao Group.  Nearly 120,000 kinds of commodities in over 30 categories are sold here. The center aims at middle and high classes of consumers and strategically offers excellent service to animate the market.  This shopping center has won many honors including Satisfactory-Service Commercial Building of the Nation, Commercial Enterprise of Credits of the Nation, etc.

Friendship Store
It has a long history of providing overseas visitors with silk products, carpets, embroidery, gold and silver ornaments, jade articles, calligraphic art and other paintings, herbal medicine, cigarettes and wine, mahogany furniture, as well as local handicrafts. 

Suzhou Renming Department Store
Address: No.22, Little Park, Northern Block, Suzhou, China.
With a history of 63 years, it is the largest department store in Suzhou and it sells products of middle and high classes.  It has ever gained various honors such as the National Commercial Enterprise of Credit, Good-quality Shop, etc. 

Handicraft Trade Center
It sells embroidery, Chinese musical instruments, Chinese brushes, ink and ink-stone, silk and silk garments, herbal medicines, carpets and other various handicraft articles.

Embroidery Research Institute
Suzhou embroidery is one of the most four famous embroidery schools in China. Kittens and goldfish are common motifs.  With 48 embroidery colors, the institute turns out unique needlework, of which double-faced embroidery is the most outstanding.

Sandal Wood Fan Factory
It is famous for making sandal wood fans, perfumed wood fans, silk tissue fans, and ivory fans.  Visitors enjoy viewing the processes of fretwork, pokerwork, painting, and carving.

Suzhou No. 1 Silk Spinning Mill
It specializes in producing raw silk with domestic silkworm cocoons as its raw material.  Western visitors often enjoy observing the processes of sorting, boiling cocoons, spinning, rewinding, and packing.

Suzhou Silk Garment Factory
It manufactures various high-grade silk garments that are much sought after both at home and abroad.  The ancient-style costume show performed in the factory demonstrates various costumes of China's past dynasties, which gains high appreciation from both domestic and international visitors.

Suzhou Silk Printing Mill
It produces millions of meters of printed silk, "Mid-Lake Pavilion” brand crepe de chine winning the state gold prize.  Visitors are able to observe every stage of the production process, such as designing and printing.

Dongwu Silk Weaving Mill
The largest of its kind with more than 5,000 workers, specializes in producing such silk fabrics as taffeta, crowned "King of Taffeta" in international markets, and brocade, which is praised as the "Artistic Flower of the East".

Suzhou Silk Dyeing and Scouring Factory
Forty million meters of silk fabrics are dyed annually.  The products are exported to over 100 countries and regions.  Observation of the processing itself has attracted many visitors from all over the world.

Suzhou Mahogany Carving Factory
It is renowned both at home and abroad for its handmade Ming-Dynasty style mahogany furniture including beds, bookshelves, wardrobes, chests of drawers, various tables and chairs, as well as small ornaments - all of superb workmanship.

Suzhou Jade Carving Factory
It produces both large and small jade articles, such as Buddha figures, beautiful ladies, flowers, birds, animals, bracelets, and necklaces.  Suzhou city has been one of the cradles for jade carving in China since time immemorial.