The Qianlong Emperor's Southern Inspection Tour / Emperor Qianlong South Inspection Tour

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Suzhou, located on the Great China Canal, near Taihu Lake. For centuries, the city has been an important transport and commercial center in the Jiangnan region, one of the richest parts of China.

Beginning with the Song Dynasty (tenth to thirteenth centuries), the city became an important center for the production of silk in China, which remains to this day. In the thirteenth century, Suzhou was ravaged and plundered by the Mongol hordes. Under Mongol rule, Liujiagang Harbor, located on the Yangtze River near Suzhou, is becoming an important military and commercial port in the region. It was from her that the grain collected in Jiangnan was sent by sea to the Mongolian capital of Khanbalik (Beijing).