[In Focus]: The Gardens of Suzhou
Hopping on the high-speed train to see the springtime colors in the beautiful, classical Chinese gardens in our neighboring city.
In Focus: A picture-driven look at what's new, cool, special and weird about Shanghai. This is the view from the ground, through the lens of our photographers.
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11 Kuojiatou Xiang (阔家头巷11号). Off season: 30rmb. Peak season: 40rmb. 7.30am-5pm.
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From April to October, it’s possible to visit the garden at night (7.30-10pm), when they stage Kunqu Opera and Pingtan singing (100rmb).
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In 1868 ownership was passed to an imperial official named Li Hongyi, who was also a skilled calligrapher. Many of the steles in the garden are his copies of Wei and Jin Dynasty inscriptions.
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The smallest of the Suzhou residential gardens, it uses space masterfully to create the illusion that it’s bigger than it really is.
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This almost 900-year-old garden (网师园, wang shi yuan) was originally called the Ten Thousand Volume Hall, but was renamed in the 1700s when a new owner, who admired the simple life of a fisherman, acquired it.
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338 Liuyuan Lu (留园路338号). Off season: 45rmb. Peak season: 55rmb. 7.30am-6pm.
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An exhibition hall stages classical Kunqu Opera, Suzhou Opera and Wuxi Opera throughout the day, three styles which are known both nationally and internationally among aficionados of Chinese opera.
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During the Sino-Japanese war, the garden became a stable for army horses. 1949, the government took over and refurbished the garden, opening to the public five years later.
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It’s considered one of the Four Classical Gardens in China, along with Beijing’s Summer Palace, Hebei’s Chengde Mountain Resort and the Humble Administrator’s Garden.
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Another UNESCO site (留园, liu yuan), this one from the late 1500s! Despite its early start, it epitomizes the Qing dynasty style of garden.
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3 Canglangting Jie (沧浪亭街3号). Off season: 15rmb. Peak season: 20rmb. 7.30am-5.30pm.
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Like the others, the garden became a UNESCO World Heritage Site a couple of decades ago.
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The green pool and weeping willows are emblematic of this garden and its reverence for nature.
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He named the pavilion after this ancient verse, a coded metaphor for politics and a way to express the behavior of an honest official in a dishonest age. "If the Canglang River is dirty I wash my muddy feet; If the Canglang River is clean I wash my ribbon."
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The Blue Wave Pavilion (沧浪亭, canglang ting) is the oldest garden in Suzhou, going back almost 1,000 years, when a scholar was demoted and sent back to Suzhou. Like many of us, he went shopping to console himself and decided on a garden.
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6 Xiao Xinqiao Xiang (小新桥巷6号). Off season: 20rmb. Peak season: 25rmb. 7am-4.30pm.
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The mansion of the owner is a focal point of the entire garden.
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Also unlike other gardens, it’s accessible by boat from some of Suzhou’s many canals.
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Not nearly as old as some other gardens, it was built in 1874 and then re-built in a two-part layout, hence the name “Couple’s”.
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Like the previous gardens, the Couple’s Retreat Garden (耦园, ou yuan) was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000 and is one of Suzhou’s most well-known classical gardens.
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23 Yuanlin Lu (园林路23号). Off season: 30rmb. Peak season: 40rmb. 7.30am-5pm.
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Some of the trees in the garden date back to the Yuan Dynasty.
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Built and refurbished by a series of Zen Buddhist monks, the last cycle of disrepair and repair was finished in 1926. In total, the garden is 650 years old.
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The name goes deeper than that though, with a reference to Zhejiang’s Lion Peak, where a monk was said to have attained nirvana.
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The Lion Grove Garden (狮子林, shi zi lin), also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is famous for the grotto of taihu rocks, which are supposed to look like lions. (Debatable.)
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178 Dongbei Jie (东北街178号). Off season: 50rmb. Peak season: 90rmb. 7.30am-5.30pm
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The name of the garden was inspired by this Jin dynasty verse: “I enjoy a carefree life by planting trees and building my own house...I irrigate my garden and grow vegetables for me to eat...such a life suits a retired official like me well."
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It was originally the residence of a Tang dynasty poet, Lu Guimeng.
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The garden is often considered to be the best example of a classical southern Chinese garden in the country. The layout is a maze of pools and islands but is centered on a large lake.
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One of the most famous gardens in a city famous for gardens, the Humble Administrator’s Garden (拙政园, zhuo zheng yuan) was granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1997.