From the editor

This is China Daily's special report about Suzhou, a city in the Yangtze River Delta.

Suzhou is traditionally known as the Garden City. In recent history, when the city became the envy of other Chinese cities for the amount of foreign capital it attracted, the gardens and the lifestyle surrounding them seemed to have fallen out of fashion.

Today, theprosperouseconomy has only allowed the Suzhou people to devote more resources to the conservation of their unique cultural heritage, and development of a cultured modern lifestyle.

The rise of its new middle class is feeding the city's economic growth.In mid-May, Chinese President XiJinpingstressed the need to expand the middle-income groups. In this matter, Suzhou-the historical garden city-is showing us how it is transforming into a garden forthe nation's new middle class and its colorful lifestyles.

-SunShangwu, deputy editor-in-chief, China Daily

苏州，这是一座以其园林著称的历史名城。然而，近些年来，苏州的名气主要来自其吸引了大量外资，而不是因为其历史名园和生活方式。但时至今日，苏州的经济繁荣让其独一无二的文化遗产获得更好传承，人民生活更加精致。

苏州中等收入群体的增加，对其经济发展功不可没。今年5月中旬，习近平主席强调，中国应不断扩大中等收入群体。正是在这些方面，苏州这座以花园著称的历史名城，一直在进行着具有示范意义的尝试。

中国日报推出的《GO苏州》特辑，便是对这些尝试的集中报道。

-《中国日报》副总编辑 孙尚武

(China Daily European Weekly 06/24/2016 page2)