The Chinese city of Suzhou, about 60 miles from Shanghai, is known best for its gardens and for the network of canals that once earned it the nickname, alongside numerous other Asian cities, of “the Venice of the east”. Though much of the old city has been erased by overzealous development, the gardens are still enchanting, with their rockeries, pools and pavilions. The canalside street of Pingjiang Lu has a sleepy, old-world charm. However, I am here mainly to investigate the food, for Suzhou has its own culinary style, su bang cai, or Suzhou cuisine.
中國蘇州市(Suzhou)距上海約60英里，以園林和水網密布名聞中外，它一度贏得了“東方威尼斯”(the Venice of the east)的美譽，許多亞洲城市都有著不同尋常的別名。雖然老城區的大部已在大躍進式的改造開發中被夷為平地，但蘇州園林憑借假山、池水和亭子至今仍然光彩奪目。臨近古運河的平江路(Pingjiang Lu)靜謐而古樸，魅力不凡。然而，我此次到蘇州來主要是尋訪它的餐飲，因為蘇州本地有自己的特色烹飪——蘇幫菜(su bang cai)。