Garden of Master-of-the-Net / Wangshi yuan
Garden of Master-of-the-Net is the best and most celebrated of all the Suzhou gardens. This combined Qing Dynasty residence and garden is also the smallest of the Suzhou gardens.
The Garden of the Master of the Nets is truly a masterpiece. The effective use of space is the most impressive thing about this garden. Rock arrangements and beautiful fish pools balance each other as do the house and garden sections. The garden also contains many examples of using lattice windows to frame scenes of flowers or bamboo.
In the early 1980s, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York used the Dianchunyi Court section (located in the western part of the inner garden) as a model for a Ming style garden.
This garden is very small and as such, we recommend that you visit during an off-peak time to beat the crowds. Winter is Suzhou's biggest off season and even in Spring or Summer, going in the early morning can help.