Almost every famous city has its river. The river flows through the heart of the city, affects just about everything in the city, and becomes a part of the city. Paris has the Seine, London has the Thames, and so on. For Shanghai, a bustling metropolis in the Orient, history is linked to a river called the Suzhou.

Both the Suzhou and Huangpu Rivers are called Mother Rivers by the people of Shanghai. The Bund along the Huangpu formerly served as a settlement for foreigners and has long been the financial center of the city. The area is prosperous but has little connection with ordinary people. The Suzhou is narrow, but it seems closer to the people, and it is often said that life in Shanghai is bound to the Suzhou.

Some of the 23 bridges over the Suzhou	The Suzhou River

Stories of the Suzhou were made into a movie-The Suzhou River- but the movie shows a filthy river. This is not the look of the Suzhou today. Suzhou were made into a movie-The Suzhou River- but the movie shows a filthy river. This is not the look of the Suzhou today.

The Suzhou River over the Last Hundred Years

The Suzhou River is now a branch of the Huangpu, but a thousand years ago, the relationship between the two rivers was the opposite. With the passage of time, not only the watercourses but also the lives of the people along the rivers have changed.

From the Garden Bridge to the Henanlu Bridge along the Suzhou, the buildings left by foreign settlers are no fewer than those in the Bund along the Huangpu. From the Henanlu Bridge westward along the Suzhou to the Wuninglu Bridge, there were once many factories with tall chimneys and wharves equipped with huge cranes.

The countless flour mills, textile mills, oil plants, and chemical plants on the banks of the Suzhou brought modern industry to Shanghai, but at the same time, they brought pollution to the river, making it filthy and foul-smelling, and many of the blue-collar workers living in the area suffered from poverty. The area along the Suzhou became a slum.

The Garden Bridge, built by a foreigner named Whales in 1856, was the first bridge over the Suzhou and is still the most beautiful bridge in Shanghai. It stands where the Suzhou meets the Huangpu and serves as the starting point for tours along the Suzhou. Formerly, Chinese people had to pay a fee to use the bridge. In 1873, Gongbuju (the administrative body of the public foreign settlement in Shanghai at the time) built a wooden bridge nearby so that Chinese people would not have to pay to cross the river. The wooden bridge was thus called Baidu (Free Crossing) Bridge.

A dragon-boat race.	An older residential area along the Suzhou in the early morning

Westward from the Garden Bridge along the Suzhou, there are many old buildings in foreign architectural styles, each of them as beautiful as those on the Bund.

The Pujiang Hotel, formerly Richard's Hotel, is north of the Garden Bridge and faces the Russian Consulate on the other side of the Suzhou. The hotel was built by Englishmen and features English neo-classical style. It was the first hotel in Shanghai equipped with modern facilities as such electric lights and telephones. In 1897, Empress Ci Xi hosted a grand ball in the hotel to celebrate her 60th birthday, and the event is considered the first social ball in China.

Another famous old building along the Suzhou is the Post Tower, also designed by an English architect. It was completed in 1924 and was the largest post office in China until the liberation of Shanghai in 1949.

In front of the Post Tower is the Sichuanlu Bridge, which was of strategic importance in times of war. The Sichuanlu Bridge was the site of the fiercest battle fought for the liberation of Shanghai in 1949. At that time, a battalion of Kuomintang troops was stationed in the Post Tower. In order to protect the Post Tower and other buildings of historic importance and to protect the lives of civilians, the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) were not allowed to attack with artillery and explosives in urban Shanghai. In some areas, even guns were forbidden, and the PLA soldiers had to persuade their enemies to surrender by shouting to them.

West of the Henanlu Bridge, the European buildings gave way to slums and factories.

Boatmen on the Suzhou River

Many of the people in the slums along the Suzhou made their living by engaging in occupations that had died out in other areas of Shanghai, such as making popcorn, sharpening scissors, fixing washbasins, selling rodent poison, and running hairdressing stalls on the street.

Today, as formerly, the boatmen on the river make their living another way. They pilot the many cargo ships and garbage scows along the Suzhou.

Miao Guofeng, now 28, came to Shanghai after graduating from junior high school and became a cargo ship pilot on the Suzhou. He lived with his family-his father, his wife, and his son- on an iron boat all year long. The iron boat was their home and their entire property.

Since 1997, when the Overall Rectification Program of the Suzhou River was launched, Miao has rented his boat to the Suzhou River Overall

Rectification Office, and he thus earns a stable and considerable income. "This program is one of major state programs enjoying sufficient investment," says Miao, "and I receive the rent payments on time, but private companies often pay late."

Many cargo ships are needed to carry away the garbage produced by demolishing over 100 discarded wharves and dangerous bridges on the Suzhou and to carry in the materials for building new bridges. It is said that cargo ships will not be allowed on the Suzhou after the rectification program is completed. The river will be available only to tour boats.

A dragon-boat race. This is the first boat race on the Suzhou since 1997, when the rectification program for the river was launched.	Along the Suzhou River.

The Future of the Suzhou

The rectification of the Suzhou continues, and it is hoped that fish and shrimp will reappear in the river before 2010. According to the planning of the municipal government, the Suzhou will become a new tourist attraction in Shanghai.

Keeping the river free from pollution is the most important item. The areas along the Suzhou were formerly centers for industry, especially the textile industry. Almost all of the city's major textile plants were on the banks there, and they were the main sources of pollution. Today, these textile plants have moved or been demolished, and many new buildings have risen in their place. Real estate developers often mention the history of the area in their advertising.

Some old buildings have been preserved, of course. On the south bank west of the Changshoulu Bridge, there is a gallery called the East Gallery. It is brick red and was built as a granary in 1921. The East Gallery is now well known in Shanghai for its avant-garde art. Here, visitors can not only appreciateank west of the Changshoulu Bridge, there is a gallery called the East Gallery. It is brick red and was built as a granary in 1921. The East Gallery is now well known in Shanghai for its avant-garde art. Here, visitors can not only appreciatethe works modern Chinese artists but also learn how those artists protect this old building in their own way.
modern Chinese artists but also learn how those artists protect this old building in their own way.

The banks of the Suzhou will become sightseeing streets. An outdoor swimming pool and a 50,000-square-meter park circled by streams are in the planning. Zhongyuan Liangwan City, a newly built residential area, stands on the banks. A platform two kilometers long has been built so people can get close to the river and go down under the flood-prevention dykes to sport in the water.