Hailed as the “Venice of the Orient,” Suzhou is a well-deserved synonym for beauty: beautiful landscapes, beautiful women and delicate food. Suzhou enjoys worldwide fame largely thanks to its traditional architecture and gardens, inspired by which the late architect I.M. Pei designed the Suzhou Museum for his ancestral home. Modern Suzhou is far from an old-fashioned watertown, rather its ambitious high-tech start-ups has already made a dent in China's new technology innovation board this year. /VCG Photo

The Suzhou Museum designed by the late architect I.M. Pei in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. /VCG Photo

An ink painting of an ancient watertown in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. /VCG Photo

A boat travels down a winding river in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. /VCG Photo

A storytelling and ballad performance in the Suzhou dialect. /VCG Photo

Suzhou's specialty, Yangchenghu Lake crabs. /VCG Photo

The new industrial area in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province. /VCG Photo