Suzhou Jie (Suzhou Street)

　　苏州街

　　Originally called Merchants Street, it was built in the style of South China towns during Emperor Qianlong’s reign (1736-1795). It was a street where emperors and empresses could pretend to go shopping as ordinary people and it was burned to the ground by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860 and restored in 1990. The 300-meter street is built over water with shops and stands on the bank. More than 60 businesses, including a teahouse, a restaurant, a pharmacy, a bank, a hat store, a jewelry store and a grocery store, operate on the bank, presenting a concentrated illustration of the commercialism in South China towns in the 18th century.

　　原称买卖街，乾隆时仿江南水乡而建，是专供清代帝后逛市游览的的一条水街，一八六零被英法联军焚毁，一九九零年在遗址上复建。街全长三百余米，以水当街，以岸作市，沿岸设有茶馆、酒楼、药房、钱庄、帽店、手饰铺、点心铺等六十多个铺面，集中展现了十八世纪中国江南的商业文化氛围。