Why are Hangzhou, China and Venice known as "Sister Cities"?

Venice was built in 452 AD. In the eighth century, it was a trade center on the Adriatic. The city and the Republic were established in the tenth century, and in the Middle Ages it was one of the most prosperous trade centers in the Mediterranean. After the opening of the new shipping route, it declined as the European commercial center gradually moved to the Atlantic coast. Incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1866. Industry and commerce are developed, including aluminum smelting, chemistry, coking, fertilizer, oil refining, steel and other industries. It is famous for the production of jewelry and jade crafts, glassware, floral leather products, lace, embroidery, etc. The port of Margueira on land is an important oil port and passenger port. A well-known tourist center with 3 million tourists annually. The ancient Piazza San Marco is the center of urban activity. Surrounding the square are Byzantine and Renaissance buildings such as the cathedral and the bell tower. Lido, a linear sandbar 2 kilometers offshore, is the most famous bathing beach in Europe. Venice is a beautiful city on the water. It is built in the most unlikely place to build a city. The style of Venice is always inseparable from "water". The winding water alleys and flowing clear waves make it look like a woman floating on the blue waves. Romantic dreams, poetic and picturesque feelings linger for a long time. This city once held the most powerful human, material and power in Europe. It is said that the history of Venice began in AD 453; at that time, farmers and fishermen in Venice fled to this small island in the Adriatic Sea to escape the weapon-loving nomads. Venice looks like a dolphin, with a city area of ??less than 7.8 square kilometers, but it is composed of 118 small islands with 177 canals densely interspersed like a spider web. These small islands and canals are connected by about 401 various bridges. The entire city is only connected to the Italian mainland peninsula by a causeway. Venice is still a prosperous town, and the people there live well. When the water rises in St. Mark's Square in Venice, the way to build here is to first lay large wooden piles on the soil under the water. The wooden piles are one by one. This is the foundation. Once it is laid firmly, the wooden boards are laid, and then the house is built. The house there All are built this way. So some people say that the city of Venice is made of stone above and forest below. In order to build Venice, all the forests in northern Italy were cleared. For a house like this, there is no need to worry about the rotten wood underwater. It will not rot, and will become harder and stronger over time. Previously, when archaeologists excavated Marco Polo's former residence, the wood they unearthed was as hard as iron and would only decay when exposed to water and exposed to oxygen. Venice's fertile alluvial soil, locally sourced stones, and small boats made of wood from the adjacent inland travel between it; in the mud and on the water, our ancestors built Venice. This city of less than 8 square kilometers is divided into more than 100 small islands by more than 100 cobweb-like canals. The islands are connected only by various bridges. For first timers, you will quickly get lost in this place. In a "water city". Fortunately, the Grand Canal runs through the entire city in an S shape. Along this so-called "Venice's longest street", you can enjoy the best of Venice without worrying about getting lost. There are nearly 200 palaces, mansions and seven churches along the coast, most of which were built between the 14th and 16th centuries, in Byfontein style, Gothic style, Baroque style, Venetian style, etc. The foundations of all the buildings are submerged in the water. It's like an art gallery rising from the water. On weekdays, the Grand Canal is really like a bustling street, with all kinds of boats going back and forth on it. The most unique thing is of course the gondola. Let me correct you first. The "Venice of the East" refers to Suzhou, which is located on the shore of Taihu Lake and on the south bank of the Yangtze River. In Haikou, the Beijing-Shanghai Railway, the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway (under construction) and a number of expressways run through the entire territory. Suzhou borders Shanghai to the east and the East China Sea; it embraces Taihu Lake to the west, with Wuxi on its back and Changzhou across the lake; it borders Zhejiang to the south, bordering Jiaxing, and the water surface of Taihu Lake under its jurisdiction is close to Huzhou; it lies on the Yangtze River in the northeast and is 80 kilometers away from downtown Shanghai in the east. It is the southeastern gateway of Jiangsu Province, the throat of Shanghai, and the only way from central Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu to Zhejiang. Suzhou is endowed with natural treasures and outstanding people. Due to its prosperous and long-lasting culture and economy from ancient times to the present, Suzhou is known as the "Paradise on Earth", and is also known as the "Silk City (Silk House)" and "Garden City". Suzhou has always been famous for its beautiful landscapes and elegant gardens. Today, the famous couplet "When I look back, I will never forget the Splendid Garden, and when I smile, I will recall the Misty Rain Alley." It is also known as "the gardens in the south of the Yangtze River are the best in the world, and the gardens in Suzhou are the best in the south of the Yangtze River". It is also known as the "Oriental Venice" and "Oriental Water City (Oriental Water City)" because of its ancient water town characteristics of small bridges and flowing water. Today's Suzhou has become an international metropolis with "a garden in the city" and "a city in the garden", where mountains, water, cities, forests, gardens and towns are integrated, with a perfect combination of classics and modernity, ancient charm and modern style, and harmonious development. In 2004, the World Heritage Conference was successfully held. In 2006, the Third National Sports Conference was held. In 2007, the 16th Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival was held, and the permanent evaluation base for the preliminary evaluation of the Golden Rooster Awards was settled in the Suzhou Science, Technology, Culture and Art Center. On December 22, 2007, the Taihu Cultural Forum, the country's first national first-level civil society organization that is permanently located in Taihu Lake in Suzhou and aims to promote the excellent culture of the Chinese nation and promote cultural exchanges between the East and the West, was officially established in Beijing. The establishment of the Taihu Cultural Forum will build a permanent platform for dialogue among world civilizations and cooperation among regional civilizations. The permanent site of Taihu Cultural Forum is located in CITIC Taihu City, Taihu National Tourism Resort in Suzhou, and the Standing Council of Taihu Cultural Forum is located in Beijing, China. Suzhou is famous for its gardens and ancient water towns. The history of Suzhou's classical gardens can be traced back to the gardens of King Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period in the 6th century BC.

The earliest record of a private garden is Pijiang Garden built by Gu Pijiang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (4th century). Gardening has flourished in the past dynasties, and there are more and more famous gardens. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Suzhou became the most prosperous area in China, with private gardens scattered inside and outside the ancient city. In its heyday from the 16th to the 18th century, Suzhou had more than 200 gardens, and now there are dozens of them that are still well preserved. Therefore, Suzhou is known as the "Paradise on Earth". Suzhou is the oldest city extant according to valid data. Suzhou was the political center of the Wu Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period. It was the political and economic center of Jiangnan during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty. Sima Qian called it "the first city in Jiangdong" (Sima Qian's "Historical Records: Biography of Huo Shi") "); in the Song Dynasty, the country's economic center of gravity moved southward. Lu You said that "Suzhou and Chang (zhou) are familiar, and the world is sufficient" (Lu You's "The Bull Run at the Watergate"). The people of the Song Dynasty further praised it as "there is heaven above, and Suzhou and Hangzhou below." , and Suzhou is "the most beautiful in the southeast"; during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it became one of the national economic and cultural centers that "clothes the world"; Cao Xueqin praised Suzhou in "A Dream of Red Mansions" as "the most wealthy and romantic person in the world." place". "Suzhou gardens are the best in the world". Suzhou gardens are comprehensive works of art that combine architecture, landscapes, flowers and trees, sculptures, calligraphy and paintings. They integrate natural beauty and artistic beauty into one, forming a picture of twists and turns and changing scenery step by step. There are more than 60 gardens in the city, among which the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Lingering Garden are included in the four famous gardens in China, together with the Master's Garden, Huanxiu Villa and Canglang Pavilion, the Lion Grove, the Art Garden, the Couple Garden, the Tuisi Garden, etc. Nine classical gardens were included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO in December 1997 and November 2000. There are many ancient towns in Suzhou, including Wujiang Tongli, Zhenze, Kunshan Zhouzhuang, Jinxi, Qiandeng, Changshu Shajiabang, Guli, Taicang Shaxi, Liuhe, Wuzhong District Luzhi, Guangfu, Mudu, Dongshan, Gaoxin Zhenhu and other towns in the district. Suzhou is now developing village tourism, such as Sanshan Island, Mingyue Bay, and Wangshan in Wuzhong District, Shushan in the High-tech Zone, Lianhua Island in Xiangcheng District, and Jiangxiang in Changshu. These villages are famous for their beautiful and simple scenery and The delicious Wudi farm food is becoming a new magnet for Suzhou tourism. Suzhou has both the beauty of gardens and the beauty of landscapes. Temples, temples and famous temples are spread throughout urban and rural areas; cultural relics and historic sites complement each other. With the addition of literati's inscriptions and calligraphy and couplets, it became famous both at home and abroad. Lingyan Mountain, Tianping Mountain, Dongting Dongshan and Xishan, Dengwei Mountain, Qionglong Mountain, Baima Stream, Changshu Yushan, Kunshan Yushan, Zhangjiagang Xiangshan and other places are all natural scenic spots. Suzhou Paradise, Jinji Lake Ferris Wheel Park, Yangshan Hot Spring, Zhenhu Embroidery Street, Changshu Garment City and other modern tourism facilities have also attracted many tourists from home and abroad. Moreover, Suzhou is known as the "Venice of the East" because both large and small rivers pass through it. In other words, they are "sister cities" and Hangzhou has a natural environment where rivers, rivers, lakes and mountains blend together. The city's hills and mountains account for 65.6% of the total area, plains account for 26.4%, and rivers, lakes, and reservoirs account for 8%. The world's longest artificial canal, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, and the Qiantang River, known for its large tidal surges, pass through the city. . The western, central and southern parts of Hangzhou belong to the middle and low mountains and hills of western Zhejiang, and the northeastern part belongs to the northern Zhejiang Plain, with criss-crossing rivers, dense lakes and rich products. Hangzhou is known as the "Land of Fish and Rice", "Home of Silk" and "Paradise on Earth". Hangzhou has a subtropical monsoon climate with abundant rainfall. The annual average temperature is 17.5°C, the average relative humidity is 69.6%, the annual precipitation is 1139 mm, and the annual sunshine hours are 1762 hours. Hangzhou has a wide variety of biological species, including 13 species of national first-level protected animals, 55 species of second-level protected animals, and 13 species of second-level protected plants. The city's average forest coverage rate is 62.8%. Mineral resources include large and medium-sized non-metallic and metallic deposits. Lin'an Changhua produces a kind of chicken blood stone that is rare in the world and is a treasure among collection stones and signet stones.