求：关于苏州全方位介绍（历史及地理）的英文文章

Question

求：关于苏州全方位介绍（历史及地理）的英文文章
悬赏分：10 - 解决时间：2009-9-13 22:23
9月一到苏大马上就要开学了，现在求一篇关于苏州全方位介绍（历史及地理）的英文文章，字数越多越好。要全方位地介绍一下，而不是重点赘述某一个地方。要准确就不用说了吧？因为开学时候要讲给我的学生听。不怕生词太多，就怕不准确。毕竟我的学生都是英语专业的，有几个生词也不会造成大麻烦说不定还有帮助呢。谢谢啦。高分回报。最好还能注明出处。

Answer 1

The long history of Suzhou City has left behind many attractive scenic spots and historical sites with beautiful and interesting legends. The elegant classical gardens, the old - fashioned houses and delicate bridges hanging over flowing waters in the drizzling rain, the beautiful lakes with undulating hills in lush green, the numerous scenic spots and historical sites, and the exquisite arts and crafts, etc. have made Suzhou a renowned historical and cultural city full of eternal and poetic charm.
　　
　　Suzhou was the capital of the Wu State during the Spring and Autumn Period. In 514 BC, by the command of King He Lu of Wu, his senior minister Wu Zixu built the Great City of He Lu, and its wall measured 23.5 kilometres in circumsference with 8 pairs of land - and - water gates. The city began to take the name of Suzhou and Gusu City during the Sui Dynasty. Numerous changes have taken place in Suzhou through its vast history. Yet, in spite of repeated devastation, the city is still seated exactly on the original site as it was 2500 years ago, which is indeed an instance rarely found in the world.
　　
　　Suzhou is best known for its gardens: Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, the Surging Wave Pavilion, and the Master of Nets Garden. These gardens weave together the best of traditional Chinese architecture, painting and arts.
　　
　　Also is the famous "Cold Mountain Temple", both in China and in Japan, where bells are rang on New Year's morning as a tradition.
　　
　　Suzhou is also known as the "Venice of the East". The city is sandwiched between Taihu Lake and Grand Canal. Network of cannels, criss-crossed with hump-backed bridges, give Suzhou an image of City on the water.
　　
　　Last but not the lest, Suzhou is also an Economically powerful city. It has the third largest amount of GDP in China, ranked after Shanghai and Beijing.
The beautiful waterside City of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province in South China is most famous for its elegant classical gardens. Among these, the Humble Administrator's Garden, covering about 52,000 sq. meters (12.85 acres), is the largest and most renowned. Due to its unique designs and ethereal beauty, the garden has garnered many special honors. It is listed as a World Cultural Heritage site and has also been designated as one of the Cultural Relics of National Importance under the Protection of the State as well as a Special Tourist Attraction of China. Along with the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Mountain Resort of Chengde in Hebei Province and the Lingering Garden in Suzhou, it is considered as one of China's four most famous gardens. No other classic garden in the country has been honored more than this one.

The Humble Administrator's Garden was originally built in 1509 during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). It was initially a private garden of a former government servant named Wang Xianchen. It was said he intended to build a garden after retired and just do some gardening work like planting trees and vegetables there, which was said to be the life of a humble man by him. Hence is the name of the garden. The garden was created upon the old relics of a resident and a temple. Water feature is the main background and its natural landscape includes small forests, hills and rock formations. It also has man-made pavilions, halls and parlors. Unlike the Grand View Garden and other famous gardens in Beijing, it is representative of the Ming Dynasty building style.

The garden consists of Eastern, Central and Western sections as well as some residences of the former owners. The resident houses are typical of the style of Suzhou Local Residences, whose feature can be seen in the famous water township Zhouzhuang not far from Suzhou City. The site of the residences has been rebuilt as the Garden Museum now.

Eastern Section
The Eastern Section is dotted with sheer hills, green grasses, dense bamboo and pine forests and winding streams. The main building is the Cymbidium Goeingii Hall (Lanxiang Tang). Its south wall has a panoramic map of the entire garden. Another impressive structure is the Celestial Spring Pavilion (Tianquan Ting), which gets its name from an ancient well inside whose water tastes very sweet.

Central Section
The Central Section is the truly elite part of the garden, with one-third of its area covered by water. It is lined with exuberant trees and elegant parlors. Pavilions and courtyards are clustered throughout. The Hall of Distant Fragrance (Yuanxiang Tang) is the main building that is named after a lotus pool nearby. When the summer comes the pool is filled with lotuses and the heady fragrance wafts into the building. The hall is designed with oversized glass windows on all sides for easy viewing. Nearby is the Small Flying Rainbow Bridge (Xiaofeihong), a rare type of bridge and the only one in the garden you can walk across.

Western Section
The main building in the Western Section is a stately and ornate hall which is divided into two by a massive screen. The south part is 18 Camellias Hall (Shiba Mantuoluohua Guan) and the north part is the 36 Pairs of Mandarin Duck's Hall (Saliu Yuanyang Guan). In a nearby pool where the ducks were fed, stands an octagonal Pagoda Reflection Pavilion (Taying Ting); there is an optical illusion here - it appears as if a pagoda was lifting when all we actually see is the reflection of the pavilion.

In recent years, the Humble Administrator's Garden has been the site of many floral exhibitions. Every spring and summer, the garden hosts the Azalea Festival and the Lotus Festival. There are bonsai shows in the aptly named Bonsai Garden (Penjing Yuan) in the Western Section while precious Chinese stones are shown in the Elegant Stone House (Yashi Zhai) in the Central Section.

After touring the garden, you may want to visit Lion Grove Garden, a famous classical garden of a different style. Also, there are many museums nearby if you want to more deeply explore the gardening techniques and customs of Suzhou.

Answer 2

History

Suzhou, the cradle of Wu culture, is one of the oldest towns in the Yangtze Basin. 2500 years ago, local tribes who named themselves "Gou Wu" in the late Shang Dynasty lived in the area which would become Suzhou.

In 514 BC, during the Spring and Autumn Period, King Helu (阖闾) of Wu established "Great City of Helu", the ancient name for Suzhou, as his capital. In 496 BC, Helu was buried in Huqiu (Tiger Hill 虎丘).

In 473 BC, Wu was defeated by Yue, another kingdom to the east that was soon annexed by Chu in 306 BC. The golden era of Suzhou was over.

By the time of Qin Dynasty, the city was known as Wu County. Xiang Yu (项羽) staged his historical uprising here in 209 BC, which contributed to the overthrow of Qin.

During Sui Dynasty, the city was renamed Suzhou in 589 AD.

When the Grand Canal was completed, Suzhou found itself strategically located on a major trade route. In the course of the history of China, it has been a metropolis of industry and commerce in the south-eastern coast of China.

During Tang Dynasty (825 AD), the great poet Bai Juyi (白居易) constructed the Shantang Canal (called "Shantang Jie" or 山塘街) to connect the city with Huqiu for the tourists. In 1035 AD, the temple of Confucius was founded by the great poet and writer Fan Zhongyan (范仲淹). It became the venue for imperial civil examinations.

In February 1130, the advancing Jin army from the north sacked and massacred the city. This was followed by the Mongol invasion (1275) and destruction of the royal city (in the centre of the walled city) in the beginning of the Ming Dynasty (1367).

Afterwards, the city had a more prosperous time. Many of the famous private gardens were constructed by the gentry of the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, the city was to see another disaster in 1860 when Taiping soldiers advanced on and captured the city. In November 1863 the Ever Victorious Army of Charles Gordon recaptured the city from the Taiping forces.

After this, the next crisis was the Japanese invasion (1937). Many gardens were devastated by the end of the war. In the early 1950s, restoration was done on Zhuo-Zheng Yuan (Humble Administrator's Garden), Dong Yuan (East Garden), and others, to bring them back to life. Consequently, most of the existing gardens reflect the architectural style of the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911 AD), despite the fact that many of them date back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD).

In 1981, this ancient city was listed by the State Council as one of the four cities (the other three being Beijing, Hangzhou and Guilin) where the protection of historical and cultural heritage as well as natural scenery should be treated as a priority project.

Classical gardens in Suzhou were added to the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1997 and 2000.

Districts and satellite cities

Area: 8,488 km² (city proper: 1,650 km²)
Population: about 5.91 million (city proper: 2.17 million)
Suzhou has jurisdiction over (at county level):

districts: Canglang (沧浪), Jinchang (金阊), Pingjiang (平江), Suzhou Industrial Park(工业园区), Suzhou High & New Technology Development Zone(高新区), Xiangcheng (相城), Wuzhong (吴中)
County-level cities: Changshu (常熟), Taicang (太仓), Kunshan (昆山), Wujiang (吴江), Wuxian and Zhangjiagang (张家港)

Culture

Chinese opera: Kunqu originates in the Suzhou region, as does the much later Suzhou Opera. Ballad-singing, or Suzhou pingtan is a local form of storytelling that mixes singing (accompanied on the pipa) with portions in spoken dialect.
Silk
Handicrafts: Suzhou embroidery, fans, national musical instruments, scroll mounting, lanterns, mahogany furniture, jade carving, silk tapestry, traditional painting pigments of Jiangenxutang Studio, the New Year's wood-block prints of Taohuawu Studio.
Paintings
Calligraphic art
Cuisine: Yangcheng Lake huge crab
Suzhou Silk Hand Embroidery Art

Answer 3

求：关于苏州全方位介绍（历史及地理）的英文文章
悬赏分：10 - 解决时间：2009-9-13 22:23
9月一到苏大马上就要开学了，现在求一篇关于苏州全方位介绍（历史及地理）的英文文章，字数越多越好。要全方位地介绍一下，而不是重点赘述某一个地方。要准确就不用说了吧？因为开学时候要讲给我的学生听。不怕生词太多，就怕不准确。毕竟我的学生都是英语专业的，有几个生词也不会造成大麻烦说不定还有帮助呢。谢谢啦。高分回报。最好还能注明出处。