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Joya
Internaionl Youth Hostel, 1/21 Daxinqiao lane, Suzhou, is a part
of the private residence of the Pangs. North of the famous
Pingjiang Road across the Daxinqiao (Main New Bridge), there
will be four eye-catching floral lattice opennings on one of the
front walls. The hostel has two symmetrical rows of 5 parallel
sections. The total area is about 2000 square meters. Both the
front and back of it are along side of their respective rivers,
a feature which is considered rare in today’s survived old
houses.
The hostel also is about 100 meters direct westward from the
Garden of Couples. In the course of renovation, a reception
counter is added to the original gate-room. A lobby is made from
where, in the old days, sedan chairs were anchored. All other
spaces, including the Flower Basket Hall are converted into
dorms, rooms and suites to suit different requirements and
tastes of the patronage.
There are three gardens and a few courtyards. One of them
features animal shaped rockers. The second has a plant of
loquat, with banana trees near by, be tokening a fruitful
summer. Still another sits the stone wall around an aged well,
with a century old wistaria plant still flourishing, offering a
full aroma of nostalgia.
Although the house comes into being too late to have direct
connection with CHEN Shiguan, a top winner of the 24th year
imperial examination under the regime of Yongzheng(1746), it is
built by his descendants in 1883 as a second home away from
their native Haining.
Our great grand father PANG Qingling bought it and had it
renovated. The wooden structure, the verdant tile, the white
wall, the floral lattice windows, the cultured court yards and
other prevailing styles south of Yangtze, all kept in the way
they supposed to be. For that reason,t he building is adjudged
as a site to be preserved under the statute of the locality. Its
structure is meticulously detailed in an official publication,
The Antiquarian Residences in Suzhou.
Through out the course of time, this house has accommodated
quite a few prominent personalities. Renowned linguist CHAO
Yuan-ren, after the death of his parents, passed his adolescent
years here under the tutelage of our grand mother, his mother’s
elder sister. Educator JING Song-ren, who made this place home
for more than a decade, is an important ang loyal tenant. PANG
Jingzhou, with his family, is an onwer-resident here.
To some one from a foreign land, it is hard to take these
names out of ordinary, but to a good part of Chinese populace,
they are impressive marks and their associated inflorences are
flet and penetrating. By simple logic, ensuing unsers of these
same facilities can generally be assumed bearing a similar
status. Visitors to this site should come to know what they have
passed through here is a rare and precious experience.
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Tel：86-512-67709649/82107475
Fax：86-512-67709649 E_mail:joya_yh@hotmail.com
Add：
Daxinqiao Lane 21-1, Pingjiang
District, Suzhou, 215005 , China |
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