Qiantaixiang

Qiantaixiang was founded around 1863 in the Tongzhi reign, on the central stretch of Guanqian Street, and is a century-old name in Suzhou's silk-and-cloth trade as well as an early member of the city's merchant guild.

Dealing in silks, satins and woollens, it rebuilt itself into a three-storey shop blending Chinese and Western styles after Guanqian Street was widened in 1929, and stood as a leading cloth merchant in Republican-era Suzhou.

Suzhou has long been a centre of silk, and Qiantaixiang was known for discerning material selection and a full range of goods, carrying on the city's silk trade and bearing witness to the silk-shopping culture of Guanqian Street.

It was recognized as a China Time-Honored Brand by the former Ministry of Internal Trade in 1991 and again by the Ministry of Commerce in 2006.