The Suzhou Milieu - Video of "Taihu Mei"

One of the most difficult aspects of Suzhou to convey is its milieu, the refined, graceful, almost effeminate atmosphere that characterized the city's daily life for centuries. Words, however well-expressed, are inadequate to the task; paintings and photographs help, but they still fall well short, only hinting at what lies beneath. Even visiting the city is all too often just superficial, with tourists simply being rushed from one classical garden to the next in a whirl of confused images and insufficient context. Seeing a pingtan or Kunqu opera performance is a start, but by themselves these shows are just too foreign and obscure for most people to absorb.

Having struggled with this problem of "conveyance" for some time now, I've concluded that the best method currently available is a promotional video produced under the auspices of the city of Suzhou (presumably by a tourism office) somewhere back around the year 2006. Set to the softly flowing music of "Taihu mei" ("Beautiful Tai Lake"), this four-minute video (below) probably captures the spirit of classical Suzhou as well as anything I've seen before or since.

This spirit is increasingly difficult to find in rapidly modernizing Suzhou, but it's still present if one has the patience and willingness to look for it.

If the video above does not play or you wish to find it on YouTube, click here.