The map highlighted what looked an intriguing area at the southwest corner of the former 10-kilometer-long city walls. I headed off following canal banks, passing through what felt like village scenes that had somehow survived the ravages of time.

Eventually I reached Panmen, today a prominent tourist area but in 1996 still fairly rustic, indeed amazingly tranquil. It remains the location of a well-preserved water gate. Spending a few hours there, I was intrigued to examine how water flow was controlled by a sluice system. While most walled Chinese cities were accessed by conventional gates, this one opened to allow navigation from the canals. A main access point into Suzhou, it was consequently strongly built and defended. Originating from the Wu kingdom of the Spring and Autumn period (770 to 476 BC), it is topped by a tower rebuilt in1986 to commemorate 2,500 years of Suzhou's history.