Xiangcheng District 相城区

Setting and landscape

Water covers about 40 per cent of the district. The district government notes that Xiangcheng is the only area joining Lake Tai and Yangcheng Lake, holding more than half of Yangcheng Lake's water surface and 5.7 kilometres of the northern Lake Tai shore. Shengze Lake (盛泽湖), Cao Lake (漕湖), Chunshen Lake (春申湖) and the Grand Canal also cross it. Kunshan (昆山) lies to the east, Wuxi (无锡) and Changshu (常熟) to the north, and the old city, Suzhou Industrial Park and the high-tech zone to the south.

History

The name recalls Wu Zixu (伍子胥), minister of the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn period, who is said to have surveyed the soil and tasted the water beside Yangcheng Lake with a view to building a city here. The district government places the last years of the strategist Sun Wu (孙武) and the painting of Shen Zhou (沈周) here.

Xiangcheng's best-known craft is the imperial kiln brick. When the Yongle emperor moved the capital to Beijing and built the Forbidden City, officials were sent to Lumu (陆慕) to oversee brick-making, and the emperor named its kilns the Imperial Kilns (御窑). The fine square 'gold bricks' (金砖), which ring when struck, pave the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Hall of Central Harmony and the Tiananmen gate tower. Making them takes over twenty steps, from choosing clay to firing, soaking and polishing, and the craft entered the first national intangible heritage list in 2006. The district counts 82 intangible heritage items, including Yuanhe kesi silk tapestry (元和缂丝) and the Yangcheng fishing songs (阳澄渔歌).

What to see

The Suzhou Imperial Kiln Brick Museum (苏州御窑金砖博物馆), designed by the architect Liu Jiakun (刘家琨) and opened on 18 May 2016, consists of a main hall and a kiln-site park. In the Ming and Qing, Yuyao village (御窑村) at Lumu fired gold bricks for the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace; its kiln site survives. The district's parks include the Huqiu Wetland Park (虎丘湿地公园), the Hetang Yuese ('lotus pond by moonlight') Wetland Park (荷塘月色湿地公园), the China Flower and Plant Garden (中国花卉植物园) and the Shengze Lake rose garden. The Suzhou Library North branch is here too.

Food and local products

Yangcheng Lake hairy crab (阳澄湖大闸蟹) is the district's famous product; Xiangcheng calls itself the home of clear-water hairy crab.

Getting oriented

Suzhou North station on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway stands in the district's core, and Suzhou Metro lines 2, 4, 7 and 8 cross the district.

Highlights

• Suzhou Imperial Kiln Brick Museum 苏州御窑金砖博物馆: Museum by Liu Jiakun on the Lumu kiln site, opened in 2016.
• Imperial kiln gold bricks 御窑金砖: Floor bricks for the Forbidden City's main halls; national intangible heritage since 2006.
• Yangcheng Lake hairy crab 阳澄湖大闸蟹: The district holds more than half of Yangcheng Lake's water surface.
• Hetang Yuese Wetland Park 荷塘月色湿地公园: One of the district's wetland parks.