Travel Guide Wuxi 无锡

A city of water, rocked by canals, Wuxi deserves a visit for the beauty of Taihu Lake, one of China's largest.Distance from 128 km from Shanghai, Wuxi attracts mostly Chinese tourists. The city itself has little interest.Wuxi enters history under the reign of Prince Taibo of the Zhou dynasty (1122-221 BC). He settled in Meili, the current site of Wuxi, and founded the kingdom of Gouwu. At all times, the richness of Taihu's lake generated all the covetousness.The region's tin mines were quickly depleted and the city renamed «Wuxi» (without tin) under the Han (206-220). Under the Tang (618-907), a flourishing Buddhist doctrine in the Lower Yangtsé region leaves the city of oblivion. The development of religious activity continued to grow in the following periods.It owes its economic success to agriculture, developed on its rich alluvial plains. Its crops were and are still being transported by the great canal, towards the sea and towards Beijing. Wuxi experienced a golden age in the 1930 s under the leadership of Shanghai entrepreneurs. They invest in Wuxi, giving new vigor to the local economy. Today, Wuxi is one of China's leading silk producers. The city has also become one of the foreign investment poles since China opened in 1979. Wuxi now has 4.2 million inhabitants and has its own river port in Jiangyin.