Suzhou Joya International Youth Hostel, Suzhou, China

74 %Customer Satisfaction*

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.