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Puli was the ancient name of Luzhi Water Town. It is located in the Wuzhong District, 18 km east of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. This water town was named after a Tang Dynasty recluse poet called Lu Guimong who retired in this town. Lu Guimong had a pseudonym- Mr. Puli.

At that time, Puli consisted of two districts, Puli and Liuzhi. Liuzhi meant that there were six straight rivers in the town. In the Suzhou dialect, 'liu' was pronounced as 'lu', and Liuzhi pronounced as Luzhi. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Puli was changed to Luzhi township of Yuanhe County.

Luzhi was famed to be the Venice of the East for its beautiful waterways and ancient bridges, some of the bridges dated back to the Song Dynasty. A walk in the ancient town Luzhi is said to be a walk into history frozen in time, tranquil and serene.

The Ming Dynasty poet Gao Qi poem 'Scene of Puli' is still an accurate description of the scenery in the ancient town Luzhi today. It reads, 'Long bridge short bridge with willows; Front stream rear stream with lotus; People watching banner over wine store risen; Seagulls escort boat to home of fishman.'

In 2004, Luzhi together with Tongli and Zhouzhuang were listed in the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage Sites. With the rapid modernization of China, large number of historical towns disappeared under the bulldozers, with only a handful of well preserved historical townships remaining today. In 2004, Luzhi was also awarded a Township Preservation Award by UNESCO.