Shantang Street (Chinese: 山塘街; pinyin: Shāntáng Jiē; Suzhou Wu: Se daon ka, Wu Chinese pronunciation: [se̞ dɑ̃ kɑ]), also known as Seven-li Shantang (Chinese: 七里山塘), is a street in northwestern Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China.
The street connects Changmen (Chinese: 阊门) in the east with Huqiu in the west, with a total length of about 3,829.6 meters (2.38 miles),[1] or a little more than seven li or traditional "Chinese miles".
[4] Construction of the Shantang Canal (Chinese: 山塘河) started in 825 AD, during the Tang Dynasty by Bai Juyi, a poet and the Cishi (modern-day equivalent of the prefectural governor) of Suzhou, to provide a link between Huqiu and the city.
[2][5][6][7] Along with Pingjiang Road, the street was declared a Historical and cultural block of China (Chinese: 中国历史文化街区) in 2015.
[8] Today, it is a popular tourist destination with visitors being attracted by the heritage nature of the buildings and the various old stone bridges.