山塘街 | |
Shantang Canal
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Length | 3,830 m (12,570 ft) |
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Location | Northwestern Gusu District, Suzhou |
Construction | |
Inauguration | 825 AD |
Other | |
Status | Complete |
Shantang Street (Chinese: 山塘街; pinyin: Shāntáng Jiē; Suzhou Wu: Se daon ka, IPA: [se̞ dɑ̃ kɑ]), also known as Seven-mile Shantang (Chinese: 七里山塘), is a street in northwestern Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. The street connects Changmen (Chinese: 阊门) in the east with Huqiu in the west, with a total length of about 3,829.6 meters, or a little more than seven li.
Construction of the Shantang Canal (Chinese:山塘河) started in 825 AD, during the Tang Dynasty by Bai Juyi, a poet and the Cishi (modern-day equivalent of the prefectural governor) of Suzhou, to provide a link between Huqiu and the city. The sludge dug out from the construction formed a dam along the north bank of the canal known as Baigong Dam (Chinese:白公堤) in honor of Bai Juyi. A street was built on dam, which later became the modern-day Shantang Street.
Along with Pingjiang Road, the street was declared a Historical and cultural block of China (Chinese:中国历史文化街区) in 2015.