Mudu Town is situated southwest of Suzhou City. It is an ancient town with a history of thousands of years in the watery region, reputed as “the first town in Wu-Zhong region”.
    The name of Mudu Town comes from the history of war between State Wu and State Yue before 2,500 years.According to the historical records, after a war between State Wu and State yue during the Spring and Autumn Period, the defeated Yue presented a very beautiful girl named Xishi to King Fuchai of State Wu. Xishi is one of the four most beautiful girls in the Chinese history. The King of Wu was attracted by her beauty and issued an order to build a splendid Guanwa Palace for her at the top of Lingyang mountain, by the Tai Lake. This great project lasted three years and the logs which used to build the palace obstructed the river course. The “mu” means the logs and the “du” means the river course.This is how the ancient town got its name Mudu.
    There are numerous historic sites and ancient streets in the town. Integrating the cultures of architecture, garden, religion and folk-customs, it has profound connotation of history and culture.