Kammala wannan magana: Lokacin da jami'in Koriya mai jirgin ruwa Choe Bu ya sami damar ganin yawancin Gabashin China daga Zhejiang zuwa Liaoning a kan hanyarsa ta komawa gida a 1488, ya bayyana Suzhou a cikin rahoton tafiyarsa kamar yadda ya wuce kowane birni. Yawancin lambuna masu zaman kansu na yankin an gina su ne ta hanyar daular Ming da Qing. Ƙungiyar
Taipings sun kama garin a cikin 1860, duk da haka, kuma yawancin tsoffin gine-ginensa da lambuna sun kasance "kusan... tarin kango" a lokacin da Sojojin Charles Gordon na Ever-Victorious Army suka dawo da su a watan Nuwamba 1863. Duk da haka, a shekara ta 1880, an kiyasta cewa yawanta ya dawo kusan 500,000, wanda ya kasance mai karko a cikin 'yan shekarun da suka gabata. A ƙarshen karni na 19, garin ya shahara musamman saboda yawan siliki da masana'antar buga littattafan yaren Sinanci. An fara buɗe garin ne don cinikin ƙasashen waje kai tsaye ta Yarjejeniyar Shimonoseki da ta kawo ƙarshen Yaƙin Sino-Japan na Farko da kuma mafi yawan ƙa'idodin ƙa'idodin ƙasashen da suka gabata na yarjejeniyoyi marasa daidaito tare da Manyan Al'ummai. Sabbin 'yan kasashen waje sun bude makarantar Turai da Sin a shekarar 1900 kuma tashar jirgin kasa ta Suzhou, wacce ta hada shi da Shanghai, ta bude a ranar 16 ga Yuli, 1906. Kafin yakin duniya na farko, akwai masana'antun siliki 7000 da ke aiki, da kuma masana'antar auduga da kuma babbar kasuwancin shinkafa.