Expressway service area in Suzhou added with natural, exquisite feel

NANJING - If not for the rows of parked cars outside the front gate, road travelers would be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled across the exquisite ancient gardens of Suzhou rather than a highway rest area along their route.

Located next to the key thoroughfare linking Shanghai and Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, the 50,000-square-meter Yangchenghu Expressway Service Area opened last month is one of the largest highway service areas in the country.

By drawing inspiration from the ink-wash paintings by Wu Guanzhong, a leading contemporary Chinese painter, the service area has restored the aesthetic appeal and historical charm of the riverside towns in the Yangtze River Delta region with its waterscape designs and rounded arches, as well as white walls and black tiles.