Bathed in rosy autumn sunset glow, I stood on the top of the Xiang Gate, one of the eight main gates of the Suzhou city wall, and had a bird’s-eye view of the old city and the canal surrounding the old city.

Spread before me was the bustling city, with office workers and students rushing home for dinner, bridges crowded with cars and bicycles and old streets warmed up by cafes and bars.

Standing on the wall dating from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), I was reminded of a time tunnel stretching from China’s ancient grandeur and frequent battles to the present day of a modern metropolis.

Suzhou’s city wall with eight gates is one of the most sophisticated and best preserved in China. It’s one of the few employing both defensive land and water gates in a region criss-crossed by streams and canals. Since river traffic was essential — the Grand Canal itself passes through the city — passage could not be blocked, but during conflicts, gates over the water were closed to prevent enemies from flooding into the city.

It’s also famous for double-wall fortifications where enemies could be trapped and killed if they breached the outer wall.

The structure represents the highest level of architecture and engineering at the time. It was not typically square and straight, but irregularly shaped to take advantage of the area’s natural defenses and surroundings of water and mountains. In that sense, the design is very modern.

The total perimeter is 15,204 meters, with 1,250 meters of relatively intact sections, according to a government survey.

2,500  years of history

I was anxious to climb the walls and “hear” their tales. When I walked up a broad ramp to the Pan Gate watchtower, I ran my fingers over the bricks. I could read the carved characters for the date of Suzhou’s founding in 514 BC, when construction on the original wall began.

Suzhou in southeastern Jiangsu Province and its walls date back more than 2,500 years. The city walls we see today were rebuilt over the centuries and a major restoration took place in the 1980s, using foundation of the walls from the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The Pan Gate and Xu Gate were built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), and parts of them remain today, notably the Pan Gate, a major tourist attraction.

When it was built in 514 BC by King Helu of Wu during the Spring and Autumn Period, the walls were made of rammed earth, with eight gates including Chang, Xu, Pan, She, Lou, Xiang, Ping and Qi gates. After gunpowder was invented, rammed earth could no longer resist assault. In AD 922, King Qian Yuanliao of Wuyue built solid brick walls, the earliest brick walls in Suzhou. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), the walls were extended and parapets were added both for defense and for firing cannon.

“Most people think everything in Suzhou is elegant and exquisite, like the classical gardens and bridges. And the city walls are no exception,” said Shi Xiaoping, a history and culture expert advising the government. “The structure is not only very large, but also very complicated.”

Shi has visited and researched city walls throughout China and considers the Suzhou walls one of the most sophisticated, finest and best preserved in the country. He considers it a “fossil” representing the layout, architecture and culture of the ancient city and the prosperous region south of the Yangtze River. It protected all the city’s achievements, both intellectual and physical, its classical gardens, bridges, pagodas and temples.

Unlike the straight lines of the city walls in Beijing and Xi’an, Suzhou’s were originally designed in the general shape of the Chinese character “亚” meaning highest excellence. Today it’s a rough rectangle.

Pan Gate

Spectacular Pan Gate was the major entrance to the walls that surrounded ancient Suzhou. It is famous for its architecture and watchtower as well as its combination of land and water gates. It’s sometimes called the Land and Water Gate.

Located in the old city in Gusu District, it’s the best preserved of the old city walls and a major tourist attraction. The solid walls are 9 meters thick and more than 8 meters high. Fortified enclosures cover 1.3 hectares.

It contains one land and one water gate (which contains two smaller water gates), and an enclosed courtyard between inner and outer stone walls. If the enemy breached the outer perimeter, they were trapped and attacked inside the enclosure by defenders who stood above on the parapets and fired weapons down upon them. The inner enclosure has a perimeter of 177 meters, a small kill space.

Combining land and water gates was a major military invention. The water gates built over canals not only repelled invaders on water but also helped control floods during heavy rains, and facilitated traffic.

Today the former military and transport hub is filled with tourists.

I saw one forelorn, rundown boat on the small water gate canal. Cruise boats ply the larger canal around the city.

Xu Gate

Cycling for 10 minutes, I reached Xu Gate in the western part of the old town. It is named after an upright official in the court of the State of Wu — Wu Zixu. The gate is 4.6 meters high and 3.3 meters wide, and stretches 11.4 meters from east to west. I can still make out the elegant carved patterns on the bricks. Walking through the wall, I saw wooden gates with lion’s head door pulls and traces of an earlier wall.

With the wall as a backdrop, a group of men were playing cards. The plaza in front of the wall was buzzing with people dancing, practicing tai chi, walking dogs, strolling and relaxing on the major canal surrounding the city.

“I spent most of my childhood playing on the wall, and it means a lot to me,” said a local surnamed Xia as he strolled near the gate. He pointed out the former site of a popular wet market crowded with vendors and stalls. It was cleared away in the restoration that began in the 1980s. The market was replaced by a plaza used for celebrating traditional festivals.

Preservation a priority

The city walls are part of Suzhou’s identity. Before the major restoration in the 1980s, the wall area was dilapidated and many people built ramshackle houses against and within the walls, creating a slum.

The people were relocated, the wall was repaired and renovated and the plaza was opened.

Since early 1980s, the Suzhou city walls have been a nationally protected “key cultural relic.”

“We try our best to keep the original, authenic appearance and renovate parts of it,” said Wang Jiaming, an official with the Suzhou Cultural Relics Bureau.

Government regulations stipulate that new construction inside the walls in the old town area must be lower than the walls and the style should be simple and elegant to protect heritage and retain the flavor of the old city.

Xiang Gate is an example of renovation and reconstruction. New access ramps were built and new watchtowers were constructed, based on remaining walls and old records. Xiang Gate is renovated in a new style, with paving bricks on the facade to create more space inside.

Around Xiang Gate is an attractive green space for leisure and recreation. Sculptures of cannon and mounted horsemen stand in the square.

The Suzhou City Wall Museum about the history, architecture, military achievements and culture of the wall will open next year.

Daily life is closely connected with the city walls. Where there’s a gate, there are people shopping, eating, visiting tea houses, enjoying entertainment. These include Guanqian Street near Xiang Gate and Shi Road near Jin Gate. A local told me the areas are so vibrant because the gates have good feng shui, an ancient system of geomancy and arrangement of buildings.

Many bus and metro stations are named after gates, which makes getting around easy.  How to get there:

High-speed train from Shanghai Railway Station or Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station takes only half an hour. One-way, second class costs 40 yuan (US$6.50).

  What to eat:

Guanqian Street near Xiang Gate is one of the most popular food, shopping and entertainment streets. It contains many historic restaurants and shops, including Song He Lou and De Yue Lou for Suzhou-style dishes, Lu Gao Jian for spiced pork with homemade red sauce, Cai Zhi Zhai for candy and roasted seeds and nuts, and Huang Tian Yuan for steamed cakes.

Shi Road near Jin Gate is also popular for eating, shopping and entertainment. Many restaurants offer the dish “Three Whites in Taihu Lake,” meaning Taihu Lake silver fish, white fish and white shrimp.

  Tips:

Cycling circle around city wall perimeter is a convenient and relaxing way to explore, especially in autumn when it’s sunny and cool with a light breeze. Small rickshaws pulled by one person are available, from 20 to 30 yuan per short trip.

You can take a ferry on the outer encircling canal from Xu Gate to Feng Gate. It’s a good way to appreciate the city wall from the moat and, if you understand Suzhou dialect, you can listen to boatmen’s stories. The cruise costs 100 yuan per person and takes 70 minutes for a round trip.

Access to the wall is free at all gates, except Pan Gate, where admission is charged.

Pan Gate Scenic Area

Opening hours: 8am-5pm

Admission: 40 yuan including Pan Gate, Wumen Bridge and Ruiguang Temple

Tel: 0521-6826-7737

Take buses Nos. 1, 3, 101 and 102. Ruiguang Temple, originally built in 247 BC, is one of the oldest temples in Suzhou. From the top you can enjoy a panoramic view.Military deterrent combined land and water gates

Dating from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), Suzhou’s city walls originally had eight defensive land gates, as well as several water gates in a region crisscrossed by streams and canals. Today, five of the eight land gates remain while another (Lou Gate) is being rebuilt. Another gate, Jin Gate on the west, was built later, during the Republic of China (1912-49). The walls are not square and straight like many in China, but irregularly shaped to take advantage of the area’s natural defenses and surrounding water and mountains.