The Liuyuan Garden, also known as the Lingering Garden, is located at the outskirts of Changmen, in Suzhou City of Jiangsu Province, built during the Emperor Jiajin period of Ming Dynasty. With an area of 23,310 square meters, it is celebrated for its artistic way of dealing with the spaces between various kinds of architectural form. Buildings make up one third of the total area of the garden, the hall of which being the most remarkable in Suzhou.
Something about the Garden
With a history of more than 400 years, Liuyuan Garden has changed hands several times. Each owner did his best to perfect the garden.
It was first built in 1593 during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) by a retired official named Xu Tai. During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), it was bought by Liu Shu. He rebuilt it and changed its name to "Hanbi Mountain Villa". As a calligraphy lover, he carved masterpieces on both sides of the corridors of the buildings. He had also collected unusually-shaped stones in the garden. The succeeding owners followed his model when doing restoration work. Almost demolished in the 1930s, the garden was repaired sponsored by the government and then opened to the public.
Four sections of the Garden
The garden can generally be divided into four parts: the middle, eastern, western and northern sections according to the style of the buildings.
Featuring man-made mountain and lake scenery in the west and garden courts in the east, the middle part of the garden is the original site of the Xu's East Garden and the Liu's Hanbi Villa, and is regarded as the best part of the whole garden. The eastern, northern and western parts are the extensions of the Sheng's Garden. The eastern part is noted for its strangely shaped limestone, the northern part idyllic scenes, and the western part the delights of woody hills.
What connects the sections
The entire garden is connected by corridors; walking along these many pavilions, verandas and terraces, strange rocks and clear streams, famous trees and special flowers; forming many small and large courtyards can be observed: A garden in a garden, a view in a view, making one forget to return; the Lingering Garden is truly a famous south-eastern garden.
The middle section
The middle section was originally named "Hanbi Mountain Villa," and was the garden's quintessential part. The layout of this section was based on mountains and ponds. A small Penglai Islet stands in the pond, connecting with the banks by a winding bridge. Those stone steps around the pond are mainly built of yellow stones. Rockeries in the west are covered with green trees.
Via the corridor, you can climb to a pavilion on the top of the rockeries. Looking down, you can see all the sceneries: east and south to the pond, Hanbi House, the Mingse Building, the Liuyin Veranda, the Quxi Building and other buildings standing around the pond. Big or small, far or near, high or low, these buildings are changeable with suitable and distinct gradation, showing the ingenuity of the builders.
The western section
The west part is known for the interesting rockeries that are integrated into the natural scenery. Stones on them alternate with the earth; maple trees have grown into a forest. On the left, walls are weaving; to the north, a peach yard is also called small peach dock; in front, a brook is winding away. From the top of the rockeries, the Huqiu Hill, the Tianping Hill, the Shangfang Hill as well as landscapes in the west yard can be seen clearly.
The northern section
The northern section had a view of natural mountain villages, using a bamboo picked fence enclosing a small garden of miniature trees with many famous species.
The eastern section
The eastern section had many magnificent and spacious halls, pavilions and corridors; it also had large and small rockeries. All these formed a splendid garden area with alternating spaces, each with its own characteristics. This was particularly true of the courtyard built along "the Cloud Capped Peak"- a famous rock of south-east China which makes a deep impression.
Getting around the attractions
A winding roofed walkway behind the small entrance of the garden, while leading to the places of quietude, shows the masterly use of contrast between big and small, straight and zigzag, and light and shade. After strolling for about 50 meters, one can catch a glimpse of lattice-windows revealing a half visible landscape garden behind. Interestingly enough, the view is changing at every step.
The Cloud-Capped Peak
Flanked by the Auspicious Cloud and Mountainous Cloud peaks, the 6.5-meter-high Cloud-Capped Peak, the highest limestone in the classical gardens of Suzhou, is believed to be left behind by the imperial collector of the Northern Song Dynasty.
Mass of buildings, including the Old Hermit Scholars' House, the Cloud-Capped Tower, the Cloud-Capped Terrace and the Awaiting Cloud Temple, are put up to give emphasis to the Cloud-Capped Tower. The northern part is now a bonsai garden in which about 500 valuable bonsai are put on display.
Wufengxian Hall
The Wufengxian Hall, as the largest hall throughout China, is also called Nanmu Hall because of the Nanmu used for its beams. It is 5-bay wide and built of hard rocks. Furnishings inside are elegant. Five rockeries that stand in the front of the hall are the biggest of all the rockeries-in-lake in Suzhou City. A small and novel yard is behind the hall with rockeries, ponds and corridors in it.
When to visit
Opening Hours: 7:30a.m. - 5:00p.m.
Getting there
-
City bus: No.11
- Tourist bus: No. 1 & 2