page_title: Suzhou Creek
section_title: Modern era: strategic significance
hierarchical_section_title: Suzhou Creek / History / Modern era: strategic significance
caption_attribution_description: English: Suzhou Creek in the Qing Dynasty 中文: 老上海苏州河沙船林立(清代)
context_page_description: Suzhou Creek, also called Wusong River, is a river that passes through the Shanghai city center. It is named after the neighbouring city of Suzhou, Jiangsu, the predominant settlement in this area prior to the rise of Shanghai as a metropolis.
  One of the principal outlets of Lake Tai in Wujiang District of Suzhou, Suzhou Creek is 125 km long, of which 54 km are within the administrative region of Shanghai and 24 km within the city's highly urbanized parts. It flows into the Huangpu River at the northern end of the Bund in Huangpu District.
context_section_description: Suzhou Creek has played an important role for being the demarcation line between political spheres of influences throughout Shanghai's history. After the Treaty of Nanjing forced China to open up in 1842 and Shanghai became an international trade port, the river formed the boundary between the British concession (Southern bank) and the American settlement (Northern bank) until both concessions were merged into the International Settlement in 1863. When the Japanese invaded Shanghai in 1937, the river formed the boundary between the International Settlement (South) and the Japanese concession (North).
  Wusong River acquired its modern name in the mid-19th century: because it connected Shanghai with Suzhou, it was called "Soochow Creek" in English, and the popular Chinese name was a translation from the English. The first documented mention of "Soochow Creek" occurred in the 1848 version of the Shanghai Land Regulations, the rules which governed the foreign concessions of Shanghai. From there, the name entered popular parlance, and "Suzhou Creek" is now the predominant name used in Shanghai. However, "Wusong Creek" remains in use in some official contexts and is the name used by upstream residents closer to Suzhou.
caption: Suzhou Creek during the Qing Dynasty.
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