Top places for shopping in Suzhou

In addition to its natural beauty, Suzhou boasts a number of excellent local products, ranging from snacks to exquisite handcrafts. Shopping in Suzhou is an excellent way to know more about Suzhou's local culture and is one of the wonderful things to do in Suzhou. Guanqian Street is the busiest street in Suzhou. Here, you can buy anything you want such as Suzhou souvenirs which is the best gifts to take home for your friend and relatives.

Suzhou, which could be a paradise of shopping, offers travelers multiple specialties to choose from. If you are going for shopping in Suzhou, Su Embroidery should be the best souvenir which shows the local culture. Not to forget Song Brocade, also called Song Brocade of Suzhou, is characterized by bright color, exquisite pattern and solid but soft texture. Both of Su Embroidery and Song Brocade can be found in Guanqian Street. As shopping could be the fantastic things to do in Suzhou, Guanqian Street is popular shopping place for travelers. 

Guanqian Street, a must-visit street, is a top attraction in Suzhou. With a history of 150 years, the street is in the downtown core of Suzhou. Guanqian Street is named after Mysterious Taoist Temple: the street is lying in front of the temple which means "before a temple". The Guanqian Street runs 760 m. (2,493 ft.) long, consists of the eastern, middle and western sections. The main theme of the Guanqian Street involves shopping, entertainment and eating. There are hundreds of shops, clubs and restaurants in old fashioned structures surrounded by colorful signs and neon lights along the street. If you are interested in Suzhou journey, please look at Shanghai/Suzhou with Tongli Water Town 5 Day Tour for more information.

While shopping in Suzhou, you should not miss the two wonderful Suzhou souvenirs: Su Embroidery and Song Brocade. Su Embroidery is ranked as top of the four famous Chinese embroidery styles. Su Embroidery is famous for its vivid presentation in which the landscape is in perspective, pavilions and towers are exactly the same as their real counterparts, figures show facial expression and birds and flowers are lifelike. The best embroidery works overshadows the paintings.

With a long history which can date back to the Spring and Autumn Period, Song Brocade is another one which should be recommended for you in Suzhou souvenirs. Song Brocade is not only used for making clothes such as robes and gowns, but also used in mounting scrolled paintings and calligraphic works. Thus brocade was preserved together with some ancient famous paintings and has been passed down from generations up to now. Song Brocade is characterized by complex patterns, simple combination of colors as well as solid yet soft texture. It is also flat, stiff and smooth. It is woven by using multicolored wefts alternately in separate parts, thus making the surface of Song Brocade more colorful and enlarging the cycle for the colors of the patterns. 

There are lots of things to do in Suzhou when you are visiting the city. Shopping in Suzhou will add an exciting experience on your journey.

Related Tours:

• Shanghai/Hangzhou/Suzhou 6 Day Tour
• Shanghai/Suzhou/Mt. Huangshan 9 Day Tour
• Eastern China Explorer 12 Days