My first impression of Suzhou is a succinct verbal description from my parents which I heard when I was a child. “In heaven there is paradise， on earth Hangzhou and Suzhou.” I later found out that this many-centuries-old description is a national catch phrase.

I found out more about Suzhou when I grew up. A very impressive description of Suzhou for me was from “Mooring by Maple Bridge at Night” by Zhang Ji of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).Zhang Ji was a scholar who failed to make it in the imperial examination but managed to write this four-line poem that made his everlasting fame. The last two lines of the quatrain read:

Beyond the city walls of Suzhou， from temple of Cold Hill， Bells break the ship-borne roamer’s dream and midnight still.

For a long while， the Temple of Cold Hill and the Maple Bridge were my visual impression of Suzhou and inspired me with poetic images and emotions. My montage of Suzhou impressions thickened as time evolved. In the 1990s， “The White-haired Suzhou”， an essay by Yu Qiuyu， injected into me an image of a silver-haired sage of 2，500 years. Another verbal image of Suzhou came from a folk song.

With all the impressions created by other people， I visited the ancient city one day last summer. The visit brought me visual delights which I find no difficulty verbalizing. All these sights remind me of the city’s ancient prosperity and legends. The short bridges， rivers， riverside houses and gardens convincingly relate the past elegance and grace of Suzhou. The ancientness and elegance of the city， strangely， did not touch my heart as previously expected. I feel they are， after all， clichés. But， on the other hand， the white and black colors of the city struck me unexpectedly: clusters of houses with black-tiled roofs and white walls and these shops flaunting their signs featuring white Chinese characters against a black background.

Suzhou in white and black! My own impression of Suzhou crystallized. I have every reason to say that it is appropriate to describe Suzhou with the two colors in sharp contrast. I admire the city for its two millennia of rainbow-colored prosperity and wealth and legends and for its choice of white and black as its urban color plan. The logo colors have remained while all the other colors and all the other shapes have kept changing in the rush of time. Even Hangzhou， a paradise city on the equal footing with Suzhou in that famous description of my parents as well as of millions of other Chinese， does not display itself in such alluring contrast.

Moreover， Suzhou is not confined to just this sharp contrast in colors. Its characteristics are also sharply contrasted. The initial visual impression of the ancient city may include images of softness: the dialect， rivers， willows， riverside houses， gardens， brocade embroidery， alleys， teahouses， snacks， story-telling ballads， and smiles. They all radiate a quality of tenderness， softness， suppleness and sweetness. Even its galaxy of talented writers， poets and painters also help add charms to this impression of tenderness， softness， suppleness and sweetness.

On the other hand， Suzhou has its strong moral integrity. A good example is Wu Zixu (?-484BC)， a key minister of the Wu Kingdom (circa 1，000BC—473BC). He fell as a victim of a conspiracy by the Yue Kingdom， the archenemy of the Wu kingdom. The conspiracy was designed to make the King of the Wu distrust Wu Zixu. It worked. Before he was executed Wu Zixu vowed he wanted to see the army of the Yue kingdom step onto the soil of the Wu Kingdom. As legend goes， his head was hanged on a post on the city gate of Suzhou and when the soldiers of the Yue arrived， they found the eyes of the hanging head bleeding blood and watching them menacingly. The soldiers had to detour to another gate to enter the city. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)， textile workers in Suzhou staged an armed uprising. They showed a sense of courage and a temperament that refused to bend under atrocious oppression and mistreatment. Jin Shengtan (1608-1664)， a prominent scholar and literary critic， wept publicly at a temple in Suzhou in defiance of the government. He was arrested， charged and executed for the disrespect he showed to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Apparently， Suzhou has its moral strength and integrity hidden in the tenderness of its outward appearance. Some people argue that Suzhou in white and black is just a visual concept derived from old photographs. They decline to understand the city in white and black as testified by its people and historical events. For me，however， the impression is apt. □