Tanama Tales

California Travel and Lifestyle Blog

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Destinations
    • Los Angeles
    • San Diego
    • Orange County
    • Santa Barbara
    • Ventura
    • San Luis Obispo
    • Santa Cruz
    • San Francisco
    • Monterey
    • Big Sur
    • Eastern Sierra
    • Yosemite
  • Privacy Policy
You are here: Home / Blog / Suzhou Museum: Architecture and Desing in China

Blog China

Suzhou Museum: Architecture and Desing in China

The new Suzhou Museum was opened in 2006 and designed by the world-renowned architect I.M. Pei.

Since last week’s post about Luzhi (a water town) was such a hit, I decided to post more about my trip to China.  Today, I want to show you a little bit about the Suzhou Museum.

In somewhere like China, there is so much to see and do that it would be impossible to fit it all into one blog post. Of course, if you are on vacation, then you will want to spend much of your time relaxing – perhaps dining in some of this country’s amazing restaurants. However, there is also a good range of attractions, and the Suzhou Museum is certainly one which I would recommend. Take a look below to find out a little more about this particular point of interest.

This being China, you cannot expect a regular or usual museum.

Entrance to the Suzhou Museum

Let’s start from the beginning.  A lot of people are not familiar with the city of Suzhou.  People know about Beijing, Xian, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and maybe some other smaller cities.  But, Suzhou?  Not so popular as the before mentioned megastars.  Suzhou is located in the Jiangsu province (which is adjacent to the Shanghai municipality) and it is part of the Yangtze River delta region.  The city has more than 2 million residents.  That’s pretty big.   In addition, the population is growing at gigantic steps.  The city has a rich history that dates from 2,500 years ago and contains historical and cultural places of immeasurable value.

View of the museum from the back terrace

The museum was founded in 1960 and located at the Zhong Wang Fu palace complex which is a historical landmark.  In 2006, a new museum, designed by the world-renowned architect I.M. Pei, was opened.  Pei is the architect who designed the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong and the glass and steel pyramid on the Louvre.  His design for the Suzhou Museum creates harmony between this new building and the old architecture of the Zhong Prince’s Palace.  Your eyes just don’t find disturbing the mix of old and new.  The clean new design provides a passage to years and years of history.

Another View of the Suzhou Museum. The lines on this structure are so simple yet so beautiful.

The museum contains about 30,000 cultural relics.  Those relics go from ceramics to books, from stone inscriptions to calligraphy, and from paintings to crafts.

Here are some samples of what the museum displays.  Pardon these particular photos, but I am obviously not an expert at uneven lit spaces photography.  Plus, these were taken with my old point and shoot camera.

Lions in the museum

Bird

Calligraphy samples

As I said, the museum was originally founded on a national historical landmark.  The Palace next to the museum was the property of Liu Xiucheng (also known as the Zhong Prince).  He was the most important military leader during the Taiping Rebellion.  This rebellion can be understood as the civil war that took place in southern China from 1850 to 1864.  Basically, the war was between the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom followers (believe it or not, Christians) and the Qing Dynasty followers (Confucians and Buddhists).  Looks like people fight over and over again for the same motives.  His Palace is the only one remaining from the Taiping Rebellion times.

Area in the Zhong Wang Fu Palace

Front part of the Palace

The Palace is in a spectacular preservation state.  You can admire the different rooms (bedroom, kitchen, living room) and even a throne room.  There are also pleasant gardens and beautiful ponds.

View of the Zhong Wang Fu Palace

Perfect example of how the Palace stands today

Patio on the Palace

I don’t know about you but I would like to take another look at the building designed by I.M. Pei.  I just love it.

Me in front of the Suzhou Museum

Gazebo at the back of the museum

Hope you liked today’s post.  If so, please remember to subscribe by mail, follow me on Pinterest, or like my Facebook page.

The museum is located at the following address:

204 Dong Bei Jie
Suzhou Jiangsu China 215001
www.szmuseum.com

Related posts:

Colurful Trees in Luzhi Water Town, ChinaLuzhi: One of the Most Beautiful Water Towns in China Pudong's Skyline, Shanghai, ChinaPudong: The Futuristic Side Of Shanghai Terracotta Warrior Face, Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, CaliforniaTerracotta Warriors in California (Bowers Museum)


4 Comments

« Luzhi: One of the Most Beautiful Water Towns in China
Nothing is as great as you think. Seriously. »

Comments

  1. Jeremy B says

    April 29, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    Really love the architecture of the suzhou museum!

    Reply
    • Ruth says

      May 3, 2011 at 7:41 pm

      Cool, right?

      Reply
  2. Michael Figueiredo says

    April 29, 2011 at 6:56 pm

    This museum looks very cool! I love how modern it is juxtaposed with the traditional Chinese buildings.

    Reply
    • Ruth says

      May 3, 2011 at 7:42 pm

      The architect pulled it off phenomenally.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Oh, Hi There

Ruth
My name is Ruth and I believe you do not have to travel far or spend a lot of money to have meaningful experiences. Let me show you how to kiss goodbye routine and add an exciting dose of adventure to your life. To learn more about me, click here.

New Here? Check out my Getting Started page.

Follow us!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Find a Category

Copyright Notice

All text and media on this site is created by me, the owner of Tanama Tales, unless otherwise stated. I will always give due credit to the author/creator of any content not provided by me. All content on this site is copyrighted and may not be used without prior written consent.

Get all the latest goodness straight to your inbox!

Copyright © 2025 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2025 · Divine Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in