Culture and Custom

Long in history and masters coming forth in large numbers, the paintings and art of calligraphy of Suzhou occupies very important position in the art history of the Chinese nation.

Wumen Fainting school:
Painters of this school, nearly all masters good at poems and writings, sojourn in forest and springs, capable of painting mountains and waters, flowers and birds. They gay great attention to expressing the subjective temperament and interest. Their painting and writing styles are delicate and pretty.

Su Opera:
It is a kind of oratorio of singing opera arias, which mingles and expresses the specialties of the clear and melodious Suzhou songs and whose tune is delicate and soft, mild and pleasing to the ear. It has the melodious and soft color of the region of rivers and lakes south of the Yangtze River.

Shihu Chuan Yue:
On 18, August of every lunar year, there used to be a old custom of admiring the full moon by rowing on the Shihu (stone lake) which is called "Shihu Chuan Yue". The shihu is situated in the southwest of Suzhou City, the width of which is 12.5 square kilometers. Under the bright moonshine, one is intoxicated by the charming and gentle scene on the light of the lake, color of the mountain, the shadow of pagoda, picturesque bridge. Sails and fishing boats etc. It is an exceptionally grand occasion, the Suzhou people to go sight-seeing on the Stone lake, when boats big and small of the whole city come out with pleasure-boats and light vessels weaving in ridges, a hubbub of singing and excitement hovering on the lake surface and booths and street peddlers crowding on the bank.