Where exactly is Suzhou?

Suzhou is in the Yangtze River delta about 60 miles from Shanghai. There is a high speed train that connects the two, so you can be in Shanghai in about half an hour. We could also take a sleeper train to Beijing leaving after dinner and be there by 7 or 8 the next morning. Suzhou is a large city by our standards (but only a medium-size one for Chinese standards) with roughly 5-6 million people. There is a Chinese saying that goes: "In heaven there is paradise, but on earth there is Suzhou and Hangzhou." Suzhou is known for its beautiful gardens and canals and Hangzhou for its lake. The climate is similar to that of Atlanta (note the key word here is SIMILAR). Hot and very humid in the summer. Spring and fall are the best seasons. Winter is short and it does not usually snow. This year was an exception as Suzhou was covered with a lot of snow -- it was the most snow the area has seen since they began keeping records (which I am unsure of when that was - the 50s? A hundred years ago? Who knows?). Though it does get cold and one thing that makes it seem colder is many buildings are not heated. In fact all public buildings south of the Yangtze river do not have central heat (or as they call it in China do not have central air). When we were there in January, I was surprised to go in the grocery store and find it cold enough to keep my coat and gloves on. Ah, one of the many things to get used to in China!