Shantang Street

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.

Puji Bridge (普济桥)
The Tonggui bridge over the canal at Shentang Street