Top 10 historical streets in China(7)

NO.4 Pingjiang Street in Suzhou （蘇州平江路）

Located in downtown Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, Pingjiang Street is a historical road running alongside the Pingjiang River. The street has preserved the city's history and unique features.

There is evidence that the street existed as early as the Song Dynasty(960-1279), and it appears on Suzhou's earliest map "Pingjiang Map" as one of the city's main streets of the period. The street runs parallel with the Pingjiang River and has a total length of 1,606 meters. Neither the street nor the river are particularly wide, and can, as a result, only be comfortably navigated by rickshaws and rowing boats respectively. The houses alongside the street and river retain the typical style of ancient Suzhou, with their white walls, black tiles and simple, unpretentious air. A number of water streets near Pingjiang Street have been preserved, especially in the area to the east of the street. People still live in the houses along these streets, maintaining their traditional lifestyle.

For many centuries, the street has been the center of much of Suzhou's cultural life. People may take a leisurely look at the titles on display in a bookstore, or take a rest in a teahouse while viewing a Pingtan performance, which involves telling folk tales and stories as well as singing ballads in the local dialect.

The flowing water, flagstone walkway, white-and-black houses, small stone bridges, verdant trees and colorful flowers evoke the scenery of a traditional scroll painting and convey how the ancient water town of Suzhou would have looked 800 years ago. Only one street away from Guanqian Street, the busiest business center in the city, Pingjia Street is just a short distance from Guanqian Street, the city's busiest business center, and is an oasis of ancient calm next to the hustle and bustle of modern business activity.