WHWH (Wuxi Sheng'an Road)

Welcome to Wuxi

by Shixitong

Most people coming to Wuxi do so for business reasons - that means, all they get to see is the hotel, a taxi or company car, meeting rooms and maybe a restaurant or two.

But Wuxi has much more to offer. Both Wuxi and its neighbour, Suzhou, are very old cities, with their foundation dating back some 3000 years.

Walking through Wuxi today makes this hard to believe. Like most Chinese cities of the east Wuxi and Suzhou have gone through vast and rapid changes over the last 10 years. The city centers are as upscale and modern as any Western city with huge malls, alley roads and a lot of luxury on display. After a couple of years of merciless destruction of all that was old the authorities have turned to preserve what is left - and there still are many witnesses of China's rich history especially around Wuxi and the Lake Taihu.

New attractions are being added year by year. One of them is the Giant Buddha of Lingshan, with 88 meters the tallest standing Buddha statue of the world. Built about 8 years ago not far from an old Buddhist temple the main attraction of the place today lies in the beautiful park built around the statue directly on the banks of Lake Taihu. Or the huge film cities created by CCTV, the largest Chinese TV station, for filming some of their most successful TV series. And last but not least there are dozens of smaller and larger parks recently built as recreational areas for the city folks - all of them showing why Chinese gardens used to be renowned worldwide for their beauty.
On this happy note I have to admit that when it comes to classic gardens Wuxi can not compete with neighboring Suzhou. I will also add information about the latter, since Suzhou is only half an hour's bus ride away from Wuxi Central Station.