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Home> China City Guide> Suzhou
Full travelling information about Venice of the East -- Suzhou and the well-known gardens in Suzhou.
Introduction
Suzhou situated in the southeast of Jiangsu Province, occupied an area of 119.2 square kilometers with a population of 880,000, between latitude 31
9
north and longitude 120
, the frost-free period of 230 days and the sunshine time is 2000 hours.
Suzhou boasts favorable location, mild climate, convenient traffic, and a large number of classical gardens. It has been a famous historical and cultural city in China, an ideal place where many officials and scholars in times past purchased and planned their garden-residences as retreats for their retirement years.
Suzhou was mentioned in 484 B.C. since it was, for a few years, the capital of the State of Wu during the Period of the Warring States Period (403-221 B.C.). It flourished as a trading and silk center in the early sixth century, linked with the capital through the Grand Canal.
Encircled by the Grand Canal, Suzhou has its unique scenery of crisscrossing waterways and streets lined with houses and stone bridges. It was called a "Paradise on Earth" in ancient times and is known as the "Venice of the East" today.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Suzhou saw a period of feudal economic prosperity and cultural flowering. Consequently, the number of privately-owned gardens in the city of Suzhou and its environs increased a great deal, mounting to 280 odd. A galaxy of great masters emerged and the art of landscape gardening reached its apogee. Many have survived to the present day and are open to the public such as the Blue Wave Pavilion and the Garden of the Master of the Nets first built in the Song Dynasty, the Lion Grove in the Yuan Dynasty, the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Garden of Cultivation in the Ming Dynasty, the Garden for Lingering In, the Coupling Garden, the Garden of Harmony, the Zigzag Garden and the Listening to Maple Garden in the Qing Dynasty. The Humble Administrator's Garden and the Garden for Lingering In, noted for their artistic perfection and individual characteristics, are known as China's four most famous gardens along with the Summer Palace in Beijing and the Imperial Mountain Resort in Chengde. A Suzhou garden is the "origination of urban scenery", a microcosm of the world made of the basic elements of water, rocks, plants and buildings, which are arranged in such a way that they reflect the sequential beauty in the garden, the passage of time, the dissimilarity between mornings and evenings, and the succession of the seasons within the boundary of the wall and lead a sequestered life amongst the bustling city.
Ancient Chinese garden builders were all highly educated and good at verse and painting. Rich in literary allusions and analogous with the freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting, the classical gardens of Suzhou are the re-creation of nature through the processes of the decoration of land by planting trees, shrubs and flowers, and designing and materializing mountains and watercourses. Sometimes they are called "a silent poem and the three-dimensional painting". Strolling through a garden is like appreciating the poetic works of great master or unrolling a long scroll of Chinese landscape painting. Distinctively, garden buildings and beauty-spots have plateaus, inscribed stele are of great antiquity and parallel couplets in excellent calligraphy and tonal arrangement with the purpose of expressing owner's temperament, moral worth, deep feeling or noble thought. There are many instances in illustration of Chinese ethical, ideological and intellectual pursuits. The Hall of Drifting Fragrance in the Humble Administrator's Garden indicates that the owner wants to be as pure and clean as lotus blooms, and the Fragrant Isle, named after fragrant herbs, is emblematic of noble sentiments. Like an ancient hermit boat sailing about freely and happily, the Fancy Boat Study in Garden of Harmony is symbolic of the freedom of the will. The True Meaning in the Garden of the Master of Nets and the Small Utopia in the Garden for Lingering In are suggestive of the rustic simplicity of country life. Interwoven with these ideas, every rock, every waterway, every plant, and every part of the garden affords much food for thought. Indeed, the classical gardens of Suzhou are the places where people can cultivate their minds and take great pleasure in studying Chinese aesthetics. Employing extraordinary methods and techniques in older days, the garden builder successfully created within limits endless varieties of perspectives, dazzling the eye as well as the mind. The garden is full of surprises. The view is changing at every step. On a garden walk, there are countless different incidents-garden courts in succession, small bridges, murmuring brooks, white-washed walls, gray roof-tiles, numerous latticed windows with intricate patterns, pathways winding up and down hills, and leading to places of quietude, mosaics and pavements with all kinds of delicate geometric or representations of brocade, mini-gardens in out-of-the-way places, etc. It is impossible to explore and learn about them all. "With mountain chains and rivers ahead, you might think that there's no way through. Why, shady willows and brilliant flowers keep one more village out of sight". In a word, there's an enchanting impression of infinitude.
Other scenic spots in Suzhou include the West Garden Temple, Garden of Harmony, North Temple Pagoda and the Temple of Mystery, all well -known in China.
The hill, 3.5 kilometers northwest of the city, is surrounded by rivers and covered with pine and plum trees. On the hill stands the Yunyan Pagoda, Suzhou's oldest pagoda built in the Sui Dynasty (581-618), and the Duanliang (Broken Beam) Hall built in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), which is known for its unique beams. On the hill also lies the Jianchi Pond, under which the tomb of the King of the Wu State He Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.-467-B.C.) was built. With a dozen of other scenic spots, the hill is noted as the first tourist attraction in Suzhou.
Canglang Pavilion (Blue Wave Pavilion)
With an area of 10,656 sq.m. . the Canglang Pavilion was laid out by Su Shunqin, the well-known poet of the Northern Song Dynasty. Simple and restrained, the garden has an earthen hill covered with old trees, and with rocks sticking out of it to strengthen the natural effect. The successful combination of the landscape garden inside with a canal outside makes it known far and wide as "typical urban scenery". The Canglang Pavilion made of stone dates back to the reign of Dangxi of the Qing Dynasty. With a view to expressing the designer's artistic conception, the stone pillars of the pavilion are carved with two lines of verse or parallel couplet, saying, "The refreshing breeze and the bright moon are priceless; the nearby water and the distant hills all have tender sentiments. " Many varieties of bamboo are unusual features of the garden. In addition, there's a Qing Temple of the 500 Sages for people to look at with reverence.
The grove, situated on Yuanlin Road, is typical of Yuan Dynasty (1279 -1368) style. Again the small garden is truly exquisite in design, the rockeries imaginative. The rockeries form a maze of caves. Walking in the maze you may have the experience of being able to hear but not to see or of being able to see but not to touch. Sipping tea and viewing flowers in the delicate pavilions and winding corridors on the water, you may have a lot of fun. The Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) wrote an inscription " Zhen Qu" (Real Enjoyment) to describe the appeal of the garden.
Located in the northeastern part of the city of Suzhou, the Hunble Administrator's Garden covers 51,950 sq.m, being a fine example of the classical gardens of Suzhou, and one of the four most famous garden in China. It was listed as cultural relics of national importance in 1961. During the 4th year of the reign of Zhengde of the Ming Dynasty (1509 A.D. ), the imperial inspector Wang Xianchen returned to Suzhou after retiring from public life and built his garden. He borrowed the idea from the essay by the Jin writer Pan Yue, saying, " To cultivate my garden and sell my vegetable crop...is the policy of humble man. " Hence the name. In the 12th year of the reign of Jiajing ( 1533 A.D.),the distinguished artist Wen Zhengming parnted 31 scrolls of paintings relevant to the garden.The Humble Administrator's Garden is divided into three parts:the eastern, middle and western parts. The house lies to the south of the garden,. Making good use of the terrestrial contours of the site, the Humble Administrator's Garden is simple,extensive and natural with various kinds of buildings being centered upon the broad expanse of a crystalline lake and verdant hills reminiscent of the scenery in the south of the Lower Yangtze. Over 700 bonsai Garden ( potted landscape) are put on display in the Bonsai Garden in the western part of the garden, representing the Suzhou style bonsai.Part of the housing complex is now used as the Garden Museum.
With an area of 23,310 sq.m , the Lingering Garden, one of the four most famous gardens in China and the best garden in Suzhou, is situated outside the Cang Gate of the city of Suzhou. In1961 it was listed as cultural relics of national importance. During the 21st year of the reign of Wanli (1583 A.D. ), Xu Taishi, carrying the ministerial title of Tai Pu Si Shao Qing, built his garden-residence called " the East Garden and the West Garden ( it was later converted into a temple )", The well-known master Zhou Singsong was requested to build a range of awe-inspiring stone mountains in the East Garden.In the reign of Jiaqing, it, renamed " the Hanbe Billa", was celebrated for 12 limestone peaks hauled from Lake Tai. In the early years of the reign of Guang Xu, it was given a new name " the Lingering Garden" after repair. Today the garden is separated into the eastern, middle, northern and western parts. The middle part features man-made mountain and lake scenery, resembling a long scroll of traditional Chinese painting. The eastern part is noted for its happy groupings of garden courts and elegant buildings, the western part the enchantment of woody hills, and the northern part cottages with bamboo fences and idyllic scenes. The Lingering Garden sets excellent examples of how garden spaces are ingeniously handled. The garden is divided and subdivided by various kinds of buildings such as halls, rooms, roofed walkway sand walls with moon gates into numerous garden courts, evoking countless perspectives through the decorative and functional alteration, and the landscaping of grounds by employing rocks, water, flowers and trees. It is characteristic of the classical gardens in the south of the Lower Yangtze
Garden of the Master of the Nets
Situated in the southeastern part of the old city of Suzhou,the Master-of-Nets Garden, covering about 5,400 sq.m, is the finest specimen of the classical gardens in the south of the Lower Yangze. In 1982 it was listed as cultural relics of national importance. During the Southern Song Dynasty ( the late 12th century), the Deputy Minister Shi Zhengzhi abode right in this place with a garden known as " the Fisherman's Retreat", and a private library called " the Hall of 10,000 Volumes". In the middle years of the reign of Qianlong, Song Zongyuan purchased and remodeled the garden- residence, and borrowed the meaning of the Fistherman's Retreat and named it the Master-of-nets Garden. It is an example of combing living quarters with a landscape garden, a true to type garden-residence belonging to the nobility in Suzhou. There're three parts: the eastern housing area, the central landscape garden and the western garden court. Constructed in accordance with the strict regulations of feudalism, halls and rooms in the east are magnificent buildings with extraordinary furnishings and interior decoration.The central landscape garden possesses imposing man-made mountains and a crystal clear pond curved round by pavilions and roofed walkways. The western garden court with the Peony Study is the model for the Astor Court and Ming Room installed by the Chinese in the early 1980s in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, U.S.A.
Hanshan Temple (Cold Mountain Temple)
Located 3.5 kilometers west of Changmenwai, the temple was built in the Tianjian Period of the Liang Dynasty (502-557). It was named after Monk Hanshan (Cold Mountain), who was once in charge of the temple during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). In the temple are cultural relics including a stone tablet inscribed with the poem "Anchoring at Night at Maple Bridge" written by the poet Zhang Ji, stone carvings and a large bell of the temple.
Known as "No 1 Water Country of China", Zhouzhuang is typical of the towns in the region of lakes and rivers south of the Yangtze River with its history of over two thousand years. It is surrounded by water and crisscrossed by four rivers. The houses are built along rivers. They are characterized by the double ridges and the high eaves. Some very imposing ones belong to the wealthy families in the past. The scenery of the town features arched bridges, meandering streams and the quaint houses.
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