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TONGLI
Tongli
The city of water and ancient tradition
Words and Photography: Jose A. Muñoz
To reach Tongli you must leave behind the bustling rhythm
of Suzhou and enter a territory where time seems to flow
with the same calm as its canals. Located in the district of
Wujiang, this ancient city is known as the “Venice of the
East”, a nickname that, far from being a tourist invention, accura-
tely describes its intimate geography: 15 canals divide the historic
centre and form a network of 49 bridges, while the houses line
the water’s edge as if they had found there their natural point of
balance.
Tongli’s history dates back to the Song dynasty, and it still preser-
ves structures and dwellings from the Ming and Qing periods. That
legacy can be felt without embellishment: in the stone bridges sof-
tened by generations of footsteps, in the narrow alleys where the
light falls differently at every hour of the day, and in the wooden
façades darkened by the passing of time. Everything invites you
to understand that this is a city built to live with the water, not to
merely contemplate it.
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