The Lingering Garden in Suzhou, China: Re-discovered!

Framed views, grotesque rockery and some "Chinglish" in one of Suzhou's classical Chinese gardens

"Re-discovered" in the sense that I never knew these pictures from our family's China trip in 2012 existed until I was trying to retrieve some files from my camera' built-in memory and these popped out. Going to Suzhou's Lingering Garden was one of my favourite memories during our three week vacation/pilgrimage to China nearly four years ago. I got to see an authentic example of classic Chinese garden design which is characterized by a miniaturization of natural landscapes (mountains and oceans) and a sympathetic relationship between people and nature around them.

I profiled the Lingering Garden a few years ago with a post titled The Lingering Garden in Suzhou, China: Classical Chinese garden design at Liu Yuan which shows many examples of the use of strange-looking or grotesque (maybe to Western eyes) limestone rockery commonly found in Chinese garden design. I also showed examples of how water is used to contrast with such "hard" elements when seen from various "stages" or viewing "platforms."

In your garden, you might want to consider where the main "viewing stage" is (your patio, deck, favourite bench?) and compose a scene that maximizes the view's beauty or significance. A technique that could help with composing this scene is framing, as some pictures below show:

Framed view at the
Lingering Garden Suzhou China 

You may find the above a little lazy or maddening but there's very little symmetrical about Asian gardens because, well, there's little in nature that's perfectly centred along an X-Y axis. I found this appealing as the drab concrete interior wall contrasts with the bright green Philodendron (?) leaves. Even the octagon frame of the window isn't symmetrical.

Framed view of rockery at the
Lingering Garden Suzhou China

These are windows (but could be doors) that fold out to create an amazing triptych. I wish I could approximate this overlooking my backyard but those pesky raccoons and mosquitoes would get in the way!

Lingering Garden Suzhou China
grasses and shrubs

Yes, there's a whole lot of green going on but that's what I expected in the dead of summer. I'd imagine the views would be more colourful in the spring and fall with the blossoms and autumn foliage. I found the monochromatic greens very calming and restful, especially with the cicadas whirring away on that hot summer day.

In the picture above, I adore how the grasses (maybe sedges) spill over the rocks. A way you could closely capture this is by using the mostly-green version of Japanese Forest Grass  (Hakonechloa macra ‘Albostriata’ Japanese Forest Grass) or Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica)

Lingering Garden Suzhou China
framed view of rockery

Another framed view above, this time forcing the viewer to contemplate the odd-looking rocks.

Lingering Garden Suzhou China rockery 

Lingering Garden Suzhou China window screen 

I just like the lattice work above in front of a translucent panel which diffuses the appearance of the branch hitting against it.

Rock garden at Lingering Garden
in Suzhou, China 

The white-wash wall starkly outlines the rocks and plants.

Rock garden at Lingering Garden
Suzhou, China 

The same area from another view. There were many of these little "pockets" scattered throughout, offering the visitor (me) a short respite from our tour guide screaming in her megaphone to get ready to leave.

Rockery at the Lingering Garden
in Suzhou, China 

Just like mountains have many outcroppings and caves, this version has the same but miniaturized to human scale.

Screen at the Lingering Garden
in Suzhou, China 

Another screen but this time much more ornate. I don't know about you but I kind of see some sort of hibiscus or Rose of Sharon flower if I stare long enough.

Sitting area at the Lingering Garden
in Suzhou, China 

We never saw anyone actually sitting in these chairs but you can imagine the owners and their visitors enjoying refreshments while looking at the garden. You'll note the symmetry inside which is largely absent outside.

Lingering Garden Suzhou China signage 

A Suzhou garden visit cannot end without showing one of many signs posted throughout for the benefit of native and tourists. The more direct and stern instruction "don't litter!" doesn't have the same wonderful lilting melody as this "Chinglish" phrase carries.

Want to see more poetic examples like the one above? I've bookmarked this great blog post titled The Signage of the Lingering Garden. You may smile or scratch your head but the sentiments are all noble.

The Lingering Garden in Suzhou, China

Classical Chinese garden design at Liu Yuan

The funny thing with the frigid windchill and impending snow storm is that I'm out of "garden mode."  I'll have to stretch my definition of  "gardening"  for readers over the next 5 (!) months until spring, mercifully, returns to us in Toronto. Which could occur in April 2014, maybe. 

Depressing!

It's good to keep the cold weather in perspective because, if we're completely honest, we tend to moan and gripe about the humidity, heat and bugs assaulting Toronto gardeners in July and August. As a mental exercise, then, see if you can warm up a little by reading this post.

My family visited parts of China in July 2012, eventually ending up in my wife's ancestral village. I posted about our visits to the Summer Palace and Ming Tombs near Beijing  previously under these posts:  "Toronto gardeners need some warmth!" and "Garden muses visits Beijing in July". Now if you ever visited China in July, you darn know well it's hot and humid. No different when we visited Suzhou on the same trip.

Suzhou (pronounced "Sue-Joe") is about 100 km from Shanghai (see this map) and is a major commercial city of about 6 million, give or take a million, in China's Jiangsu province. It's famous for its canals and gardens, or so our tour guide advised us; therefore, off we went to visit the Lingering Garden or Liu Yuan. Although the heat was stifling (around 40 Celsius or upper 90s Fahrenheit humidex), it was an extraordinary experience to see classical Chinese garden design first hand.

Hao Pu Pavilion in the Lingering Garden, Suzhou 

The Lingering Garden is one of nine classical gardens in Suzhou designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. According to the UNESCO site,

"Limited to the space within a single residence, classical Suzhou gardens are intended to be a microcosm of the natural world, incorporating basic elements such as water, stones, plants, and various types of buildings of literary and poetic significance. 

The Lingering Garden dates from the end of the 16th century and is the work of Xu Taishi, also a high Imperial official. Its present name was given to it in 1873 by the Zhengs, who paid a graceful tribute to the former owners, the Liu family, since the Chinese word for "lingering" is similar to the name of this fami1y. When Deputy Minister Shi Zhengzhi lived in Suzhou in the late 12th century he called his house "The Fisherman's Retreat," and this idea was picked up in late 18th century by Song Zongyuan when he created the Garden of the Master of the Nets....

The central part features mountain and lake scenery, encircled by buildings and visited by means of a narrow, winding path which gives unexpected views of great beauty."

(Source: Classical Gardens of Suzhou) 

I completely agree with the last paragraph in the above quote! Let me know what you think.

Hanbi Mountain Villa in the Lingering Garden, Suzhou

Lingering Garden in Suzhou, example of ornamental rock 

Lingering Garden in Suzhou rock garden. 

Compare the permanent grotesque nature of the rockery (the rougher, the better in Chinese gardens) and the softer temporary nature of the bamboo and sedges.

You might not pick it out but there's a crane mosaic in the pebble tiling, lower centre of the picture.

Lingering Garden in Suzhou, down a path with bamboo 

Example of bonsai in the Lingering Garden, Suzhou 

A verdant path in the Lingering Garden, Suzhou 

Lingering Garden, Suzhou detail of pebble path.

Another example of the importance of the  "bones"/hardscape/structure or whatever you want to label the harder and permanent elements in the garden.

Visually interesting and makes for a nice contrast between the smooth pebble tiling versus the rough rockery making up the side retaining walls.

It's not always about pretty flowers!

Example of specimen rock at the Lingering Garden, Suzhou

Lingering Garden, Suzhou rock garden 

Lingering Garden, Suzhou signage.

Translation between languages is often imperfect so I won't be snarky about the "Chinglish" signs like this one throughout the garden. The sentiment is noble, don't you think?

[Editor: Serendipity (aka Google search) allowed me to stumbled upon another blogger who lives in Suzhou and also posted about the same signs in her blog entry titled: The Signage of the Lingering Garden. Her blog called "Year in Suzhou" makes for excellent reading if you want to learn more about the people in the area.]

Lingering Garden, Suzhou blooming water lilies 

Lingering Garden, Suzhou water lily blooms in detail. 

I can never get enough of water lily photos....

Rock garden in the  Lingering Garden, Suzhou.

I'm a huge fan of walled gardens and this picture gives the impression that we're in another room.

Suzhou Lingering Garden rock garden.

Monochromatic greys of the rocks and greens of the sedges and trees forced me to sit, reflect and, yes, linger.

View from Hao Pu Pavilion in the Lingering Garden, Suzhou.

The bridge originating from the left of this photo is covered with wisteria so you can imagine the blooms earlier in the year. I imagine this scene wouldn't be too shabby in the fall either. 

If I had a million dollars...as the song goes...

View towards the Pellucid Tower in the Lingering Garden, Suzhou

Well, at least I warmed up a little reminiscing about that day in Suzhou!



By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog" Google Google Find us on Google+