Tongli Town is situated by the Grand Canal and the Taihu Lake, about 18 Kilometer away from Suzhou, 80 kilometer from Shanghai. It has a history of over 1000 years with very convenient transportation, Tongli is typical of the water county of South China. There are totally 5 lakes circling Tongli from both outside and inside. The town is sectioned into 15 small islands by over 10 rivers. However, the islands are linked by over 40 stone bridges of various style which were constructed in successive dynasties. Tongli is noted for her small bridges, clear water. It gets its name of "Venice" of the East in the world.
Tongli is noted for its small bridges, running water, households. In 1981 and 1982 Tongli was listed as one of the 13 national standard tour towns of Taihu Lake area and the only provincial standard cultural relic protection town of Jiangsu Province. Now, there are many elegant buildings and big courtyards and houses of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and 35 cultural relic protection sites in Tongli.
