Three more Chinese cities including Suzhou have been awarded the title of " Garden City " at an international contest.

These have brought the total number of winning Chinese cities to seven. Previous winners include Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou.

Starting from 1997, the annual contest is sponsored by the UK-based International Federation of Parks and Recreation Administration.

It covers areas such as improvement in city's scenery, the management of relics and the practice of environmental protection.