Tongli

Tongli is located on the shore of Taihu Lake and is famous for its “one garden, two halls and three bridges”. One garden is the Retreat and Reflection Garden, an iconic garden in southern China. Two halls refer to the Jiayin Hall and Chongben Hall. Three bridges are the Changqing, Jili and Taiping, which are not far from each other, mostly built before the Qing Dynasty.

Ancient Mansions and Old Gardens in Tongli

Tongli has many famous people in its history, thus there are many old houses in the town. In addition to Jiayin Hall and Chongben Hall, there are also former residences of Chen Qubing and Wang Shaoao. The Retreat and Reflection Garden shows the technique of owner and garden designer, with exquisite halls and pavilions, which is the only one not located in the city of Suzhou, among the nine Suzhou Gardens inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Bridges in Tongli

Bridges are the soul of Jiangnan’s water towns, and Tongli is no exception, with dozens of bridges of all sizes in the town. Tongli’s oldest Si Ben Bridge was built in the Southern Song Dynasty, more than 700 years of history. The most famous is “Tongli Three Bridges”, whenever the celebration of weddings or birthdays, people have to go around the three bridges to get blessed with peace and good luck.