Lion Grove Garden, Suzhou, China

A visit to a Chinese garden is an experience everyone should have. Chinese gardens are exciting and lush, while at the same time relaxing and inspiring. They are full of contradictions and full of surprises and mostly, full of beauty.

All traditional Chinese gardens share four elements: buildings, stones, water, and plants. Chinese gardens are a microcosm. The stones, collected for their sizes and shapes, sometimes put in creeks for a period of a year or two or three to refine their shapes, represent mountains. The ponds represent the seas. Unlike the gardens we see in Europe that consist chiefly of plants, these gardens combine the textures of plants and stone and wood and marble and stucco. Unlike the gardens of Europe that feature lots of flowers in brilliant colors, Chinese gardens are shades of green, colored by the leaves of their trees. Unlike European gardens which are manicured and symmetrical, Chinese gardens are wild looking and full of variety.

Today I will show you some pictures of the Lion Grove Garden in Suzhhou, China. Suzhou is known as a garden city or “Venice of the East.” Indeed, Marco Polo reputedly so named it. The city has canals like Venice and being poled through the canals of Suzhou is a uniquely beautiful experience. Suzhou is home to many magnificent gardens. The Lion Grove Garden is only one example. It once belonged to the grandparents of the noted architect, I. M. Pei. A visit there is something that can refresh and renew you for years.