Tongli

Search l Korean 

Traditional Settlements 

Tongli is a historic town, which is 18Km away from Suzhou to southeast. It used to be an economic center for trade and craft, with its peak in the Ming and the Qing dynasties. From the Song to the Qing dynasty, many famous scholars, poets, and painters grew up at this town, one of whom was Ji Cheng, the author of Yuan Ye (1634), a classic on landscape architecture. The town has an area of 68 hectares and a population of 10,000 people as now. Today, it attracts us with traditional townscape and dwellings of the Ming and the Qing dynasties. The 36 percent of present buildings here date from the Ming and the Qing dynasties. Tuisiyuan which was constructed at Tongli in the end of the 19th century is one of the most beautiful Chinese gardens.

a canal running through the town, and boats that used to be the only transportation mode

a canal running through the town

row of houses with white walls, along roads which again run alongside a canal

courtyard of a traditional house

xiang, narrow alley, connecting the inside of housing blocks and a canal

Tuisiyuan

a covered path connecting various spaces in the Tuisiyuan

a pavilion of the Tuisiyuan

a pavilion of the Tuisiyuan

viewed from inside of a pavilion in the Tuisiyuan