Lac du Coq d'or

Jinji Lake is a large freshwater lake on the eastern edge of central Suzhou, sitting at the geographic heart of Suzhou Industrial Park, the modern planned district built jointly by China and Singapore in the 1990s. The lake covers an area slightly larger than Hangzhou's famous West Lake, and its surrounding parkland is officially rated as one of China's 5A-class national scenic areas. For visitors to Suzhou, Jinji Lake offers the single most accessible way to see the modern, twenty-first-century face of a city more famous for its classical gardens.

The landscape around Jinji Lake is the antithesis of the canal-and-garden old city. Glass-walled office towers, luxury hotels, and a skyline dominated by the Gate to the East, a tall arch-shaped skyscraper popularly nicknamed the Big Pants for its unusual silhouette, encircle the water. A fully landscaped waterfront promenade runs the entire perimeter of the lake, with shaded walkways, public art installations, and a sequence of waterside plazas that host everything from morning joggers to evening dancers. The lakeside functionally serves as the central public park of the wider Suzhou Industrial Park district.

Several distinct precincts cluster around the lake. The western shore centers on Lakeside New World, a waterfront leisure zone with pedestrian boardwalks and outdoor sculptures, and offers the closest views of the Gate to the East across the water. The southern shore features Ligongdi, a long causeway that extends into the lake in the traditional Suzhou water-towns manner, lined with restored-style architecture housing shops and restaurants. The northern shore is anchored by the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre, a landmark cultural complex that includes opera, concert, and cinema halls, and is itself often called the Suzhou Bird's Nest for its distinctive facade.

In the evening Jinji Lake becomes one of the most photogenic spots in Suzhou, as the towers light up and the reflections shimmer across the water. A scheduled light show on the long Sky Screen at Harmony Times Square, on the eastern shore, creates a canopy of LED imagery over a shopping boulevard, one of the largest such installations in the world. For travelers looking to round out a Suzhou itinerary that is otherwise focused on classical gardens and water towns, a half-day or evening visit to Jinji Lake is the easiest way to see the contemporary Chinese urban design that has grown up alongside the old city.