Suzhou is a city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. The city is renowned for its beautiful stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed gardens which have contributed to its status as a great tourist attraction. Since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Suzhou has also been an important center for China's silk industry and continues to hold that prominent position today. The Suzhou Industry Park (SIP) is the largest cooperation project between China and the Singapore Government. SIP has a total jurisdiction area of 288 sq km, of which, the China-Singapore cooperation area covers 80 sq km, with a planned residential population of 1.2 million. Suzhou is the second largest industrial city (next to Shanghai) in China.