The most worth-seeing tourist attractions in Suzhou gardens

Introduction: Suzhou Gardens, also known as "Suzhou Classical Gardens", are a world cultural heritage, a national AAAAA tourist attraction, and one of China's top ten scenic spots. They are known as the "City of Gardens" and enjoy the title of "Jiangnan Garden". In the world, Suzhou gardens have the best reputation in the south of the Yangtze River. They are known as "recreating the world within a short distance". They are the leaders and pride of Chinese garden culture and an outstanding representative of Chinese gardens. Below I will share the most worth-seeing attractions in Suzhou gardens, welcome to read!

Suzhou gardens began in the Spring and Autumn Period when the State of Wu established its capital in Gusu. They were formed in the Five Dynasties, matured in the Song Dynasty, and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 170 gardens of various types in Suzhou. Today, more than 60 are fully preserved and 19 are open to the public, including Canglang Pavilion, Lion Grove, Humble Administrator's Garden, Liuyuan, Master of Nets Garden, Yiyuan, etc. garden.

Suzhou gardens have a unique historical status and value in the history of world gardening. With their superb artistic techniques of freehand landscapes and rich traditional Chinese thoughts and cultural connotations, Suzhou gardens are a model of gardening art in Eastern civilization. The main attractions worth seeing:

1. Canglang Pavilion

Canglang Pavilion is located in Sanyuanfang in the south of Suzhou City. It is the oldest garden in Suzhou. Covering an area of ??10,800 square meters. There is a pool of clear water running through the garden, reflecting the waves and creating various scenes.

The main scenic spot of Canglang Pavilion is centered on the mountain forest, surrounded by buildings. The pavilion and the undulating promenade along the mountain also use the water paintings outside the garden to communicate with the garden through the leaky windows on the corridor. , the mountains and water outside make the water surface, pool bank, rockery and pavilions integrated into one. The stone path on the mountain in the garden is circling, with lush ancient trees, covered with bamboos, hanging vines and wild plants. It is simple and natural, and the scenery is green and lush like a real mountain forest.

The famous Canglang Pavilion is hidden on the top of the mountain. It sits high on the hills and has soaring eaves. The structure of the pavilion is quaint and harmonious with the atmosphere of the entire garden. The pavilion is surrounded by five or six tall trees that are hundreds of years old. The stone forehead on the pavilion, Canglang Pavilion, was written by Yu Yue. Couplets engraved on the stone pillars: The breeze and the bright moon are priceless; there is love for people near water and mountains far away. There are a total of 108 types of leaky windows in the whole garden. The patterns and patterns are all the same, and they are exquisitely constructed. There are 59 of them around the mountain. They are unique among the classical water house gardens in Suzhou.

The largest main building in the garden is the Mingdao Hall, which is three rooms wide on the southeast side of the rockery. The Ming Dao Hall takes the meaning of "watching and listening without evil", and the Tao takes the meaning of "Ming" as the name of the hall. It was a lecture place for literati of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The hall is shaded by rockeries and ancient trees. The house is spacious and solemn. There are three rubbings of stone tablets from the Song Dynasty hanging on the wall, namely the Astronomical Map, the Map of the Song Dynasty and the Pingjiang Map of the Song Dynasty (Suzhou City Map).

In the south of the hall, there are several pavilions such as "Yaohua Realm", "Yinxin Stone Layer" and "Kanshan Tower", each of which has its own merits. Turning to the north, there are three pavilions named "Green and Linglong". They are surrounded by green bamboos, named after "the sun shines through the bamboos and green and Linglong".

2. Humble Administrator’s Garden

The Humble Administrator’s Garden is located at No. 178 Northeast Street, Loumennei, Suzhou. It is a representative of Jiangnan gardens and the largest classical landscape garden among Suzhou gardens. It is now listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit. Most of the existing buildings in the Humble Administrator's Garden were rebuilt in the 10th year of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1860 AD) when the Humble Administrator's Garden became the garden of Prince Zhong's Mansion of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, three relatively independent small gardens in the east, middle and west were formed.

The middle part is the main scenic spot of the Humble Administrator’s Garden and the essence. The area is about 18.5 acres. Its overall layout is centered on the pool, and the pavilions and pavilions are all built near the water. Some pavilions are directly out of the water, which has the characteristics of Jiangnan water towns.

The overall layout still maintains the rich, simple and sparse artistic style of Ming Dynasty gardens. The "Yuanxiang Hall", which uses the fragrance of lotus as a symbol of character, is the main building of the main scenic spot of the Humble Administrator's Garden in the central part. It is located on the south bank of the pool, facing the east and west mountain islands across the pool. The pool water is clear and vast, full of lotus plants, and the island is shaded by trees. On the slope, the water bank is covered with pink vines, and there is a small bridge between the two mountains and valleys. There is a pavilion built on each mountain island. The "Xuexiangyunwei Pavilion" is in the west and the "Waishuang Pavilion" is in the east. The scenery changes with the seasons.

Judging from the names of the buildings in the Humble Administrator’s Garden, most of them are related to lotus. In the central scenic area, there are also buildings such as the Microcosm Building, Yulan Hall, and Jianshan Building, as well as the exquisite garden within the garden, the Loquat Garden.

The western part was originally "Buyuan", covering an area of ??about 12.5 acres. The water surface is circuitous and the layout is compact. Pavilions are built close to the mountains and rivers.

Due to extensive reconstruction, the craftsmanship and artificial artistic style formed after Qianlong prevailed. However, the water and stone parts are still closer to the central scenic area, while the undulating, winding, and passing water corridors and streams are Suzhou gardens. A masterpiece of gardening art.

The eastern part was originally called "Guitianju", and its layout is dominated by distant mountains, pine forest lawns, and Zhuwu Qishui. Coupled with mountains, ponds, pavilions and pavilions, it still maintains a sparse and bright style. The main buildings include Lan Xuetang, Furong Pavilion, Tianquan Pavilion, Zhuyun Peak, etc., all of which were relocated.

The layout of the Humble Administrator's Garden is dense and natural. It is characterized by being dominated by water. The water surface is vast, and the scenery is plain, innocent, and natural. The Humble Administrator's Garden, a classical luxury garden in the grand view garden style, is known as the "Mother of Gardens in the World" due to its interesting layout of mountain islands, bamboo docks, pine hills and meandering waters.

3. The Lingering Garden

The Lingering Garden is as famous as the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Summer Resort in Chengde, and the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou. The Liuyuan Garden has the largest number of buildings among all gardens in Suzhou. Halls, corridors, whitewashed walls, cave doors and other buildings are combined with rockeries, pools, flowers and trees to form dozens of garden sketches of varying sizes. Its prominent treatment of space fully reflects the superb skills and outstanding wisdom of ancient gardeners and the artistic style and characteristics of Jiangnan garden architecture.

The Liuyuan Garden is divided into four parts. In one garden, you can enjoy four different scenery: landscape, pastoral, forest, and garden: the middle part is famous for its waterscape, which is the essence of the whole garden; the eastern part is famous for its waterscape. The architecture of the cloister of Quyuan is outstanding. In the eastern part of the garden, there are more than ten restaurants and pavilions such as the famous Jiaqingyu Kuaiyu Hall, Linquan Qichan Hall, Huanwo Reading Room, Guanyuntai, Guanyun Tower, etc. There is a pond behind the courtyard. There are three stone peaks, the one in the middle is named Shiguanyun Peak, flanked by two peaks: Ruiyun and Xiuyun. The northern part has rural scenery and a newly built bonsai garden; the western part is the highest point of the whole garden, with wild charm and rockery as the most amazing thing. The earth and stone are alternately piled up naturally. Chinan Hanbi Mountain House and Mingse Tower are the main viewing buildings of the Liuyuan Garden.

The Lingering Garden is centered around a pool, with a small rockery pavilion in the north of the pool and trees intertwining with it. The Wenmuxiang Pavilion on the rockery in the west of the pool has the best view of the whole garden, and there are long corridors connecting it to every place.

The architectural landscape in the Liuyuan Garden also includes Xiao Taoyuan (Xiao Penglai), which expresses the calmness of living indifferently, as well as Yuancui Pavilion, Quxi Tower, Qingfengchi Pavilion, etc.

4. Master of the Nets Garden

Master of the Nets Garden is a representative work of medium-sized classical landscape gardens in Suzhou. Master of the Nets Garden has an exquisite layout and compact structure, and is famous for its exquisite architecture and coordinated spatial scale and proportions. The garden is divided into three parts with different realms. The eastern part is residential and the central part is the main garden.

The Master of the Nets Garden is divided into different stone types. Yellow stone is used in the main garden area, and lake stone is used in other courtyards, so they do not mix. With water as the center, the surrounding ponds and pavilions are also scattered with mountains and rivers, which are sparse and elegant. The corridors and verandas loop around, changing the sceneries as you move, creating a natural poetic feeling. The ancient trees and flowers are also distinguished by their ancient, strange, elegant, color, fragrance and appearance, and complement the buildings and mountains and pools, forming a closed water courtyard in the main garden. The water in the pool is clear, and there are Sheya Gallery, Zhuoying Water Pavilion, Yue Zhi Feng Lai Pavilion, Kansong Du Hua Pavilion and Bamboo Wai Yizhi Pavilion in the east, south and north directions. It focuses on the scenery of the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter as well as the scenery changes in the morning, noon, evening and evening. Click on the next page to read more about "The Most Worth-Seeing Tourist Attractions in Suzhou Gardens"