Suzhou Garden

Suzhou, located in the southern part of the Yangtze River Delta and built as early as 514 B.C. It is famous as "city of gardens in China", and boasts both the number and the artistry of gardens. Marco Polo who visited and wrote about Suzhou in Yuan Dynasty called it the "Venice of the Orient."

Dating from Pi Jiang Garden of the Eastern Jing Dynasty,Suzhou's art of gardening has undergone a history of 1, 500 years. There were once over 200 gardens in the city, and 69 of them are still in good preservation today. The concept of Suzhou classical gardens has gone beyond the city limits, since it generally refers to all those private

gardens built in the regions south of the Yangtze.

The gardens are not large but are fascinating in their delicate design, containing hills, ponds, pavilions, terraces, corridors, and towers. Called the "Venice of the East", Suzhou has a high water table, which supplies the vast number of ponds and streams throughout the city.

The Suzhou garden originated from the desire to retire from the strife of officialdom and to shun from worldly affairs. It seeks the return to Nature and the cultivation of temperament. In Taoist philosophy and the refinement of culture underlies the theme of the garden. Hills and waters, flowers and trees, pavilion, terraces, towers and halls constitute the basic garden elements, while the prominent tone is expressed in the dark color of roof tiles, the grey of bricks, and chestnut brown of wooden pillars.
The unfolding of garden vistas is something like the opening of a landscape scroll. While enjoying tea, reading poetry, admiring flower arrangements, or playing a musical instrument in the garden, one is often surprised by the seeds of a most natural inspiration--an insight that has inspired the phrase, "There is heaven above, Suzhou and Hangzhou below." For many tourists desiring to understand China as fully as possible, Suzhou gardens offer one of the best museums.


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