SUZHOU'S newest attraction is the Jinji Lake scenic spot, featuring an amusement park, European-style castles, 4D cinema, restaurants, bars, museums and, of course, charming scenery. Hu Min pays a visit.

For a long time, the Old Town area has been Suzhou's major tourist attraction because of its classical gardens, narrow, winding streets, quaint houses and attractive waterway views. But now there's another place to visit, Jinji Lake scenic spot within Suzhou Industrial Park.

On a pleasant spring afternoon, strolling along Yueguang (Moonlight) Dock one can relax, appreciate the scenery and the sunlight flecking the water. Couples pose for their wedding photos, seniors walk their dogs, visitors sip coffee and some people just daydream. The dock area is a tranquil respite from the urban treadmill.

Colorful balloons fill the sky, some shaped like hearts, others like airships, suns, water droplets, even pencil. The display is part of the second Jinji Lake Business Tourism Festival that ends tomorrow (May 6).

The first Jinji Lake "air floating" innovation competition is part of the events.

The festival includes 3D light shows, performances, a music fountain, barbecue party, boat parade, shopping festival, photo exhibition and contest, film dubbing contest, cultural design and innovation industry trade fair, and a regatta.

At the creative market on the dock vendors sell original, handcrafted items, including T-shirts, cups, bottles, cards, silk scarves, jewelry and mobile phone cases.

Gu Jingjie, a 27-year-old postgraduate student at the School of Art of Soochow University, makes brightly colored tie-dyed silk scarves with hand-painted designs. She makes the scarves in her spare time at the university workshops, saying it's her favorite pastime. She also makes cards featuring the hand of Buddha.

Wu Zhuping, from the same school, strings a ceramic bracelet, as part of her collection of delicate ceramic jewelry in subtle colors. She also makes ceramic flower pots decorated with shapes of germinating seeds.

She says she hopes her small products will raise people's awareness about the need to protect nature.

The creative market also includes members of a nonprofit organization for migrant workers, selling enamel cups and T-shirts to raise funds.

Scenic industrial park

Suzhou Industrial Park is a joint, China-Singapore venture. That might suggest a development hub crowded with factories, but the design is environment-friendly and the lake has become a scenic attraction east of Suzhou.

The lake is a bit larger than West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Legend has it that a golden rooster once fell onto the boats on the lake, thus the lake was named Jinji, meaning "golden rooster."

Picturesque Taohua Island (Peach Blossom Island) was man-made with dredged soil. It was landscaped with peach trees, rock mountains, gurgling water and a lotus pond.

Ziyinge is a 40-meter-high steel and wood structure, a stage and viewing platform that combines traditional and modern architecture. It is the best spot for appreciating Taohua Island. During the festival, lantern shows and traditional hanfu weddings were held on the island.

Every Saturday night, many Suzhou residents and tourists gather at the City Square on the lake for a 30-minute music fountain show, said to be the biggest waterscape project in eastern China. The show with special effects features a water curtain movie, laser lighting, art spitfires and other elements.

The Suzhou Ferris Wheel Park is nicknamed the "Eye of Jinji Lake" for its 120-meter-high wheel, said to be the highest in Asia. It has 60 capsules, each seating up to six people. As the cars rotate upright, passengers get a panoramic view of the lake and surrounding architecture.

The park also features European-style castles, a roller coaster, merry-go-round, mysterious "ghost ship" and a 4D cinema.

The scenic 22,000-meter-long Ligongdi (Ligong Causeway) has the strong flavor of traditional jiangnan, the region south of the Yangtze River. Construction began during the reign of Emperor Guangxu during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Roaming on the causeway along the lake, visitors may feel as though they are walking through a traditional ink-wash painting with delicately carved old stone bridges and quaint white-washed buildings roofed with black tiles.

Restaurants and bars along the way let visitors relax and enjoy the view.

It is said that the original spot was once a large fish pond and the causeway was built as a place for people to rest.

Arts and crafts

A number of museums are scattered along the banks of the lake in the Ligongdi area. Admission is free.

Suzhou is famous for its exquisite embroidery and the Yao Jianping Embroidery Art Museum features exceptional work. Suzhou embroidery is one of the four major regional styles of Chinese embroidery. Yao, 45, is one of the most famous embroidery masters, nicknamed "dancer on the needlepoint" for her subtle craft. The museum displays more than 100 of her works.

She was born in Suzhou's Zhenhu Town, known for its embroidery, and began learning the craft when she was eight years old. When she was age 11, she stitched a spectacular phoenix that awed everyone who saw it. She mastered more than 10 variations of Suzhou needlework and was able to split silk threads into the thinnest hairs, which is considered one of the most difficult and intricate techniques. One of her works was taken aboard a science satellite and returned after 18 days, the first embroidery work sent into outer space.

One of her works "Father," which took Yao and seven of her students almost two years to complete, looks like an oil painting with fine gradations of light and shadow. The work, 140cm by 200cm, depicts an old man holding a bowl. Every wrinkle and droplet of sweat on his face can be counted, each fold in his headscarf can be clearly seen.

Yao has also reproduced the "Mona Lisa," which is surprisingly like the original. Other subjects are pandas, wild geese, peonies and natural scenery.

The latest work in progress is a Tibetan antelope, displayed on a frame.

Other museums around the lake are the Zhang Xinjia Museum of Art, which displays traditional paintings by Zhang, the Cai Yundi Carving Museum, the Basel Art Space and Chinese Museum of Fund in the area.

The carving museum exhibits stone and wood carving and brick engraving, including an intricate scene from the "Legend of the White Snake" in stone. The White Snake sorceress has fallen in love with a mortal and turned herself into a woman. In the scene, he offers her a potion that will reveal her serpent nature. Their facial expressions are vividly carved, and the dishes, chopsticks and cup can be clearly seen.

Paintings of budding artists are displayed at Basel Art Space, while visitors can lift a pack of 1 million yuan (US$161,290) notes to feel its weight at the Chinese Museum of Fund. The money isn't real.

The Suzhou Culture and Arts Center has become a landmark in the city. It includes the 1,200-seat Suzhou Grand Theater, a 500-seat performance hall, an arts training center, an art gallery, an IMAX theater and seven other halls.

In addition, the Xietang Old Street inside the park will open soon. It contains a land god temple and Yangan Bridge built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).