Suzhou: 10 Million People, But Feels Weirdly Sparse? What's Their Secret?
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Hudong in the Industrial Park... it's ridiculously crowded... Within a 3km radius, there are five or six elementary schools, all with more than ten classes per grade. Dongshahu School even has over 20 classes per grade!
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You call that a lot of people?
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Where's the most bustling part of Suzhou? I'd like to visit, and I also want to see the famous Hanshan Temple.
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The most bustling area is around Suzhou Center, near Jinji Lake.
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6 million are in the county-level cities, and the six districts of Suzhou city itself have 7 million.
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That includes the former townships/rural areas.
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How is Xiangcheng District? Is it considered a suburb? The company I'm joining is near Caohu. Is that area considered remote?
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Caohu is quite remote. The nearest shopping mall is about 5 kilometers away.
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Nanjing is the same at night; Xinjiekou is crowded, but other areas don't have many people. In Hangzhou, it's crowded around West Lake at night, but other places aren't as busy.
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Plus, during the week, many are at the factories, haha.
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I visited for a few days during the May Day holiday, and I feel Suzhou is different from other big cities. For example, in my city, Wuhan, most of its 10 million+ people are concentrated in the urban core. But with Suzhou's 10 million+ population, at least half are in the surrounding county-level cities like Kunshan, Zhangjiagang, Changshu, and Taicang. So the main city area isn't actually that big or crowded. It feels more like a city cluster.
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I used to live near Huagong (South China University of Technology) for a few years. Later, I settled in Suzhou and didn't go back [to Wuhan] for about three or four years. The first time I returned and got off at Guanggu (Optics Valley), I was absolutely stunned. How could there be so many people? The crowds crossing the street were incredibly dense; it felt like hundreds crossing at once. I just went back again this May Day and visited a Poly residential complex. The buildings are all over 40 stories high, with 16 units per floor. So many buildings, all densely packed, and the ground floors were just as crammed with restaurants.