Located in the northwest of Suzhou,Shantang Street is considered as “the No.1 place of interest in the Wuzhong District”. It was built in 825 A.D.when the famous poets in Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi took the post of Suzhou Cishi .
With the distinguished location and convenient transportation, Shantang Street prosperoused in Ming and Qing dynasties .It is considered as “the miniature of old Suzhou and the window of Wu culture” by the essence of natural scenery and human landscapes.
There are many stores and halls built along the street which all have delicate and graceful styles and scatter properly.There is old saying "There is a paradise in heaven, but there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on the earth. Hangzhou has the West Lake while Suzhou has Shantang. Both are good places with boundless sceneries".
Shantang Historic Cultural Protection Zone is one of the key historic street which linked with Shantang Bridge on the east and the West Hill Temple of Huqiu on the west.It is divided into six functional zones , including the flourishing zone, the marketplace zone, the historic-charm zone, the marvelously cultural zone, the ancient-celebrity and ancient-site zone and the landscape and famous-scenery zone .