The Singapore Merlion Stands Proudly in Suzhou Times Square
The massive shopping that is Suzhou Times Square is built on the Suzhou Industrial Park which is a joint venture between the Chinese government and the Singapore government. It has become some sort of showcase project with its refreshing shopping mall design and use of technology most notably the world largest LED screen which snakes around the shopping center. It is also not very surprising to see some Singapore companies which have set up shop in the shopping mall. I would have to admit that I’m not really keen on shopping in Singapore shops abroad since I can readily access them anytime I want to.
The Singapore Merlion at Suzhou Times Square at Night
However, probably the most telling sign that Suzhou Times Square involves the expertise of Singapore can be found what is probably Singapore most distinctive symbol – the merlion. Not far from our restaurant, there was an accurate replica of the Merlion which is practically the symbol of Singapore. There are very few sanctioned statues of the Merlion in Singapore, I believe only four of them, and this would be the second one I have seen outside Singapore, both of them in China. I doubt that the local Chinese would know what the Merlion there stood for and it would seem a little out of place in a shopping mall such as this.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/SuzhouTimesSquare.kmz} zoom=19]