The Wuxi local government provided their own guide who did an excellent job of promoting the city. Wuxi has a population of seven and a half million ranking it China's 30th largest conurbation (actually three city centres). By comparison, that's about the same as Sydney together with Wollongong and Newcastle. But there the comparison ends. Wuxi was established during Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BCE) and this area was initially rich in tin, important during the bronze age. When this was mined out, cotton, rice and silk production took over. After the opening of the Grand Canal in 609 CE, during the Tang Dynasty, it became a major transportation hub and one of the biggest rice markets in China. In many ways, Chinese civilisation was well in advance of those contemporary advances being made in the Middle East and the Mediterranean.
In recent years, Wuxi and Changzhou are said to be the birthplaces of modern industrialization in China. In July 1993, Taiji Industry, in Jiangsu Province, was the first private enterprise company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Since then, Jiangsu Province has become home to 380,400 private enterprises, in addition to hosting to 7,000 foreign-invested enterprises, and 36,000 state-owned and collective holding companies. No wonder the regional population has grown.
Our guide was also happy to address the now abandoned 'One Child Policy' saying that the central government had kept in place for too long and it is now replaced by the Three Child Policy. Yet, it had successfully abolished extreme poverty and set China on its road to economic expansion.
Our itinerary took us to a local park where we could board a little train, as it was very long way to walk to the points of interest, from which we could then walk. Among these was a structure over the water in which some locals were amusing themselves with Karaoke while children played and nearby some older citizens practiced Tai Chi. It was all very pleasant.
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Wuxi Park and city centre across the water - Lake Tai
Perhaps, as a result, we were very impressed by Wuxi.