The old Shilu area was originally the outer wharf of Suzhou. As a distribution center connecting Suzhou and foreign commerce, merchants have gathered since ancient times. In the late Qing Dynasty, Sheng Xuanhuai, a Westernizationist, built a road here. Because the road was paved with stones, it was named "Stone Road".

Shilu Pedestrian Street was officially opened in 2004. After 120 days of "facelift", the thousand-year-old stone road showed a charming appearance. The stone road is intoxicatingly beautiful. The Huaiyang River is like a jade belt embedded in the granite streets, with small ripples overlapping the water, forming a unique scene of cars walking along the river and people walking on the water. A streamlined, fulcrum-less red landscape wooden bridge of tens of meters, undulating on both sides of the Huaiyang River, has both the charm of Impressionist works and the soft curves of Jiangnan architecture. Beishi Road Square is the largest dry fountain in Suzhou. Along with the music, the water column rises and falls, and the water splashes in all directions. The light boxes buried in the ground shine like bright stars. The light-filled ground plays a modern symphony with the rhythm of the fountain. For shopping, large shopping malls such as International Mall and Asia only close after 22:00. The beverage street of Xinfeng Alley is lined with various high-end coffee houses and bars. Western-style pizza, McDonald's, KFC, home-cooked Da Niang dumplings, spicy Lao Ma rice noodle hotpot, warm and fragrant Maimaiti mutton skewers, sweet Suzhou crabapple cakes, the delicacies on the stone road will overwhelm diners and leave them hungry. Wide open. Shilu is an old business district in Suzhou City. It is located at an important node of the city's "first city, second line, and third area". With the protective restoration project of Shantang Historical and Cultural District, the construction of the Shangtang River and Changmen Reserve, and The construction of the performing arts center and the north and south sections of the subway have been launched one after another, and the location advantages of the Shilu area have become increasingly prominent. The Suzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have planned and constructed the Shilu area as the sub-center of Suzhou City, and have proposed the construction goals of "modern style, Suzhou culture, the best in Jiangsu, and first-class in China". The Shilu Pedestrian Street is the starting symbol for the Shilu area to be built into the sub-center of Suzhou City.

In the planning and design of the "Huaiyang River Corridor" of the first phase of Shilu Pedestrian Street, water will be embedded like a jade belt, complementing the green sketches, and colorful lights will create a dreamlike artistic conception for the pedestrian street. , becoming the biggest feature of Shilu Pedestrian Street. In the pedestrian street, build a large cultural square and a commercial square. The cultural square utilizes nearly 7,000 square meters of space formed after the closure of West Stone Road, and the commercial plaza utilizes nearly 6,000 square meters of space formed after the closure of North Stone Road. The construction of the two squares has made up for the lack of space for leisure and cultural activities in Shilu Business District, and has gathered popularity in Shilu. When the beautiful Xinshilu Pedestrian Street was displayed in front of Suzhou citizens, people couldn't help but sigh. Shilubu

The fashionable and grand pedestrian street is really different from before. In the pedestrian street, every design is unique. The Huaiyang River is like a jade belt embedded in the granite streets, with small ripples overlapping the water, creating a unique scene of people walking along the river and walking on the water. Beishi Road Square has the largest dry fountain in Suzhou. The fountain changes into various shapes according to the music, and the water column can reach a maximum of 30 meters, rising and falling, with water splashing in all directions, in an unpredictable manner. Beishi Road Plaza is themed around the solar system, with stars shining brightly. Each planet emits light through a light box buried in the ground, and the planets are connected by light troughs, making the entire square ground light vertically and horizontally, creating a symphony of light and water together with the large dry fountain.

The stone road was built by Sheng Xuanhuai, a Westernizationist in the late Qing Dynasty. The road was paved with stones, hence the name "stone road". There is little description of the appearance of the stone road at that time in the "Shilu Street Chronicle". Although there were many shops on the stone road at that time, there was not much to like about the shopping environment. On the contrary, the poem by Li Shen, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, "The misty waters of Wudu County, the Changmen driving the blue stream. The green poplars are shallow and the deep alleys, and the green and Han boats go back and forth" can make people feel the beautiful scenery of the Changmen area, which has been a prosperous and romantic place since ancient times.

According to the planning of relevant departments, the area from Changxu Road in the east, Jinmen Road in the south, Guangji Road in the west, and Shangtang Street in the north, with a total area of ??nearly 130,000 square meters, has been built into a "modern It is a pedestrian street with beautiful scenery, Suzhou culture, the best in Jiangsu and first-class in China. Various carefully designed scenery

are complete, and the facades of many commercial buildings have been uniformly renovated. Merchants actively raised funds according to the needs of pedestrian street construction, carried out lighting modifications, installed neon lights and store signs. The newly decorated Shilu Pedestrian Street brought the message of spring to all merchants in the cold winter. The beautiful scenery of the pedestrian street attracts many citizens, which naturally brings a steady flow of people to the businesses on the pedestrian street. On the day of the trial operation of Shilu Pedestrian Street, the business hours of major shopping malls had to be postponed. The turnover of Shilu International Mall on that day exceeded 4 million yuan. There is a coffee house on the side of the red landscape bridge on the stone road. During the closure of Shilu Pedestrian Street for renovation, the boss almost wanted to sell out the store. Now, the coffee shop is located in a perfect location on the pedestrian street, and the owner is thinking about how to add more seats in the limited space. In Shilu, shopping, leisure and entertainment, almost everyone who comes here can find their own place to stay.

There are nearly a hundred shops on Shilu, many of which are older. For food, there are Four Seasons Spring, Yuan Dachang Hotel, etc., and there are as many as five or six shoe and hat shops, plus clothing shops, covering everything from head to toe. There are other industries such as paints, silks, groceries, etc. Pedestrians and merchants come and go all day long.

In the past, Suzhou citizens felt that Shilu was like a "hodgepodge".

There are large comprehensive shopping malls and small stalls set up by laid-off workers. The overall quality is not very high. After the construction of Shilu Pedestrian Street started, many citizens also had doubts. As the external shopping environment improved, would the commercial layout change? In fact, as long as you take a stroll around Shilu Pedestrian Street, attentive citizens will find that before and after the renovation of Shilu Pedestrian Street, a wave of layout adjustments has quietly arrived. A person in charge of the Stone Road Pedestrian Street Construction Headquarters once gave an example. There is a small fast food restaurant near Taipingfang. The environment is really unsatisfactory. But after the construction and reform of Shilu Street, the fast food restaurants quietly disappeared from Shilu Street. It turns out that the landlord felt that the land value appreciation brought about by the sudden change in the environment after the renovation of the pedestrian street increased the annual rent from more than 100,000 to more than 300,000. The small fast food restaurant could no longer operate and was replaced by a high-end clothing brand store. At night, the huge fountain group on Shilu Pedestrian Street transforms into a poetic mood with music and lights. Various types of precious trees such as ginkgo and camphor planted on the pedestrian street look even more graceful under the light. Lamps, light, water and fog, the dreamlike stone pedestrian street attracts an endless stream of citizens. As for lighting alone, tens of millions were spent on the first phase of the Shilu Pedestrian Street project. In order to create a good night shopping atmosphere, all businesses in Shilu Pedestrian Street will close after 22:00 and keep the lights on until at least the early morning. In order to retain its popularity, the beverage street of Xinfeng Lane is also meeting the general public. This alley will feature fashion and leisure as its main features, with various high-end coffee houses and bars lined up, providing a haven for relaxation and rest for people's tired bodies and minds after a busy day.

The night economy is the card that Shilu Pedestrian Street wants to play most. In the expectations of relevant parties, as the experimental section of Shantang Street adjacent to Shilu is restored and the nearby performing arts center breaks ground, these good tourism and leisure resources will form an effective resource interaction with Shilu Pedestrian Street, providing a Stone Road gathers popularity. In 2007, the Shilu Commercial District expansion project was launched. After the expansion, the area of ??Shilu Commercial District reaches 55.11 hectares, which is twice the area of ??the entire Shi

Business District. The business layout and spatial planning will be more reasonable. The parking problem that citizens are generally concerned about has also been solved through the construction of 27 new parking lots and 1,700 new parking spaces. The expanded Shilu Commercial District will also be connected with Changmen and Shantang to further enhance the quality and enrich the business formats. Shilu Commercial District is listed as one of the "three core commercial districts" in Suzhou City. It extends from Fengqiao Road in the west to the west section of Huancheng River in the east, from Aiheqiao Road in the south to Shangtang Street in the north, with a total area of ??55.11 hectares. Zhongshi Road Commercial District is summarized as “four areas and two phases of project”. The four areas are: the first is the central area, which is the Shilu pedestrian street, starting from Changxu Road in the east, Jinmen Road in the south, Guangji Road in the west, and Shangtang Street in the north; the second is the east area, starting from Changxu Road in the west, The area to the Huancheng River in the east is dominated by Nanhao Street; the third is the West District, that is, the area west of Guangji Road and east of Fengqiao Road; the fourth is the South District, that is, the area south of Kinmen Road and north of Aiheqiao Road , mainly including Shilu Old Neighborhood, Performing Arts Center and South Barracks and other plots. The two phases of the project are: First, the stone road pedestrian street reconstruction project. The second is the expansion project of Shilu Commercial District. It mainly includes two areas: west expansion and south extension: the west expansion starts from Guangji Road in the east, along Shangtang Street in the north, Jinmen Road in the south, and extends to Fengqiao Road in the west. It covers an area of ??about 14 hectares and has more than 20 commercial buildings. Ten thousand square meters. The southern extension starts from Jinmen Road in the north, along the southern extension of Fengqiao Road in the west, along the Huancheng River in the east, and extends to Aiheqiao Road in the south, covering an area of ??17 hectares. At night, the Stone Road Pedestrian Street becomes even more charming, with colorful lights and changing water shadows attracting a large number of tourists. Here

not only has a charming night view, but also a first-class shopping environment. Tourists enjoy the scenery of the pedestrian street and purchase goods at the same time, killing two birds with one stone. Shilu Pedestrian Street not only provides consumers with a safe shopping environment, but also provides a fashionable living and leisure area. After the opening of Shilu Pedestrian Street, merchants in Shilu ushered in new business opportunities. As the most well-known large-scale comprehensive shopping mall in the Shilu area, Shilu International Mall has also improved its business methods. The bright lights, warm and thoughtful services, refreshing products, and comfortable and elegant shopping environment in the mall give customers a warm shopping environment. Every year on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, a grand festival celebration is held on the pedestrian street. The International Mall held a Lantern Festival lantern riddle party, attracting many tourists and customers. After the Spring Festival holiday every year, the pedestrian street will create a romantic environment to prepare shopping for Valentine's Day, greatly increasing the number of sales. The renovation of the pedestrian street marks the Suzhou Municipal Government's determination to increase the development of the regional economy and creates a new external environment for businesses. This is undoubtedly the best development opportunity for enterprises. Merchants are also working hard to seize development opportunities, create a matching business and cultural atmosphere, and prosper urban business culture.