Suzhou is located in East China's Jiangsu Province, south of the Yangtze River Delta and borders Taihu Lake to the west and Shanghai to the east. It is an oriental water city as well as a famous historical and cultural center with a history going back 2,500 years. It is also a source of the unique Taihu rocks and over a long period many officials built gardens here. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were some 200 gardens and the city was renowned both in China and abroad for its small but elegant private gardens.They are generally acknowledged to be masterpieces of the genre. The gardens reflect the profound metaphysical importance of natural beauty in Chinese culture in their meticulous design.

Suzhou gardens have their own characteristics in layout, structure and style. The Four Classical Gardens of Suzhou, i.e.The Surging Waves Pavilion, The Lion Grove Garden, The Humble Administrator's Garden and The Lingering Garden represent the different styles of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.

The gardens are not large but are fascinating in their delicate design, containing hills, ponds, pavilions, terraces, corridors, and towers. Called the "Venice of the East", Suzhou has a high water table, which supplies the vast number of ponds and streams throughout the city.

Canglangting (Pavilion of the Surging Waves) is known for its peaceful scenery and simple architecture. It was built some nine hundred years ago by the scholar Su Zimei. Built in a unique style the garden makes use of and combines landscapes outside as well as inside the garden. The garden itself is composed of rocks, green bamboo groves and hills. Bright Path Hall is the largest building in the garden. The west wall of the hall is carved with more than 500 images of celebrities who have figured in Suzhou's history.

Shizilin (Lion Grove) was built during the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368). Again the small garden is truly exquisite in design, the rockeries imaginative. Entering the garden you find stones in various interesting shapes and most of them look like lions,hence the name.It is small but well arranged and to the southeast there are hills while in the northwest there is water. Around the garden there is a walkway that follows the contours of the land and there are a number of buildings that are in perfect harmony with the scenery including Yanyu Hall, Sleeping-Clouds Chamber and Seek-Plum-Blossoms Tower.

Zhuozhengyuan (The Humble Administrator's Garden), the largest in the city, is a lush and distinctive garden built in 1522 during the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644). It occupies four hectares of which water accounts for three-fifths. All the major buildings face the water. Centering on the pool, bridges and corridors harmoniously link up isles, rockeries, pavilions and towers. The garden shows a natural and flowing artistic style. At every turn, a different view was presented thanks to the techniques of screening, framing, and borrowing scenery.

Liuyuan (Garden to Linger in) was constructed in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and is 3.3 hectares in size.It demonstrates a compact layout and a delicate decorative art. It is famous for its composition and variety. The garden is divided into four sections: artificial hills in the west, pastoral scenery in the north, hall and pavilion structures in the east and hills and waters at the center. A winding corridor of over 1,000 meters links them.On the walls of it are a great number of stone carvings and windows.

Included in the UNESCO world heritage list in 1997.