Tongli Brief

Tongli,which belongs to Wujiang in Jiangsu Province, is located along the bank of Tai Lake and to the east of ancient canal with eight lakes surrounded; it is 80 kilometers away from Shanghai Hongqiao Airport in the east and 18 kilometers away from Suzhou in the north, adjacent to 318 national highway in the south and Suzhou—Jiaxing expressway in the west. The administrative district of Tongli town, after mergence of Tongli and Tuncun in October, 2001, covers a total area of 102.91 square kilometers and boasts a total population of 58,000 with 12 administrative villages, 1 aquatic product base and 6 community residents' committees affiliated.

There are several museums in Tongli. This is more like a wax museum describing the culture of China in the olden days, about Marriage, the dynasties etc. The tickets cost 80 Rmb for a bunch of many attractions or individual attractions cost 10 or 15 Rmb. Ticket to enter the ancient town costs 25 Rmb. After 6 pm entering Ancient town is free. A boat ride costs 60 Rmb irrespective of the number of people.

At present, Tuisi Garden in Tongli ancient town has been listed as one of world’s Cultural Heritage, and Tongli ancient town is applying for it. With the reinforcement of publicity, an increasing number of people are aware of and familiar with the ancient town. Many newspaper media in mainland, Hong Kong and America introduce Tongli with illustrations; many shooting crews come to Tongli frequently, and Tongli Shooting Base was established here by China Film Association due to its natural film studio renowned both home and abroad.

Tongli people are diligent, hard-working and well-educated, and many outstanding celebrities come from Tongli town. From 1247 AD in Southern Song dynasty to late Qing dynasty, Tongli cultivated 1 Zhuangyuan (champion in imperial examinations), 42 Jinshi (imperial scholars) and 93 Juren (first-degree scholars) in civil and military field. Famous Tongli people were Zhu Heling, Yuan Long, etc, while famous ones in modern times were Chen Qubing, Fei Gong, etc