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Chinese Garden Images 13 images Created 4 Jun 2012

The Chinese garden recreates natural landscapes in miniature and its style has evolved for more than three thousand years, and includes both the vast gardens of Chinese emperors and smaller gardens built by scholars and poets. Typical components of a classical Chinese garden are ponds, rock gardens and an assortment of halls and pavilions within the garden connected by winding paths. By moving from structure to structure, visitors can view a series of carefully composed scenes, unrolling like a painted scroll.
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  • Yu Garden or Yuyuen "Happy Garden"  is an extensive Chinese garden located beside the City God Temple in Shanghai. Yu Garden was first conceived in 1559 during the Ming Dynasty by Pan Yunduan as a comfort for his father minister Pan En, in his old age. The garden was the largest of its era but eventually its expense helped ruin the Pan family. The garden was opened to the public in 1961 and then declared a national monument in 1982.
    shanghai-yuyuan-4.jpg
  • Fuxing Park is located in the former French Concession of Shanghai, in Luwan District. The park is designed in the French style with a central lake, fountains, covered pavilions and flowerbeds. Early morning, the park fills with dancers, card players, mahjong enthusiasts and  people exercising and doing tai chi. The park was originally named Gu's Park but during the French occupation it became a military encampment. After the French, the Japanese renamed the park Daxing Park. Finally, in the mid 20th century the Chinese regained control of the park land and dubbed it "Fuxing Park."
    fuxing-park-1.jpg
  • Rock Garden at Nagasaki Chinatown -Nagasaki Chinatown, also known as Shinchi Chinatown, is Japan's oldest chinatown. It was established as early as the 17th century, due to the fact that Nagasaki's port remained the country's only major port opened to Chinese trade during the era of isolation.
    nagasaki-chinatown-2.jpg
  • The Humble Administrator's Garden or Zhouzheng Yuan is considered to be the finest garden in southern China.  In 1997, along with other classical gardens of Suzhou was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The garden's site was initially the residence and garden of Lu Guimeng, a Tang Dynasty scholar. Later it became monastery garden for the Dahong Temple. In 1513 CE, Wang Xiancheng an Imperial Envoy and poet of the Ming Dynasty took over the temple when he retired to his native home of Suzhou after long service in the East Imperial Secret Service, and began work on the garden. This garden was designed in collaboration with the renowned artist Wen Zhengming.  The garden was named after a verse by Pan Yue's Idler's Prose, "I enjoy a carefree life by planting trees and building my own house...I irrigate my garden and grow vegetables for me to eat...such a life suits a retired official like me well." This verse symbolized Wang's desire to retire from politics and adopt a hermits life.
    humble-administrators-garden-6.jpg
  • Chinese Window at the Great Wave Pavilion, or Surging Waves Garden which was built by the Song Dynasty poet Su Shunqing. Surging Waves is the oldest of the UNESCO listed gardens in Suzhou and has kept its original layout. The name was taken from a verse in the poem "Fishermen" by Qu Yuan in his book Songs of the South: "If the Canglang River is dirty I wash my muddy feet - If the Canglang River is clean I wash my ribbon".  In 1955 the garden was opened to the public and in 2000 it was listed by UNESCO as world cultural heritage.
    surging-waves-garden-2.jpg
  • The Master of the Nets Garden is among the finest gardens in Suzhou and recognized with other classical Suzhou gardens as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The garden demonstrates Chinese gardening skills blending art, nature and architecture to create unique masterpieces. The Master of the Nets is regarded among garden connoisseurs for having mastered the techniques of contrast, sequence, relative dimension and depth. The two dominant elements of the composition are the Barrier of Cloud grotto, a cypress tree dating from the Ming Dynasty and a pine tree several centuries old. The areas to the south of the Rosy Cloud Pool were used for social activities and the areas to the north were used for intellectual activities.
    master-of-nets-3.jpg
  • Pond and Pavilion at Singapore Chinese Garden - commonly known as Jurong Gardens which was designed by  Yuen Chen Yu, a well-known Taiwanese architect.  The Chinese Garden's concept is based on a variety of Chinese gardening styles. The main characteristic being the integration of architectural features with the area's natural environment. The Chinese Garden is modeled along the northern Chinese imperial style of architecture and landscaping.
    singapore-chinese-garden-3.jpg
  • The Imperial gardens at the Forbidden city -  Outside of the Gate of Terrestrial Tranquility is Yuhuayuan, the Imperial Garden. Constructed during the Ming dynasty the garden is rectangular in shape and covers 12,000 square meters. This was a private retreat for the imperial family and is typical of the Chinese garden design. There are  twenty structures, each of a different style, and the ways in which they harmonise with the trees, rockeries, flower beds and sculptural objects such as the bronze incense burners is  tribute to the art of the designers that so much can be achieved in so small a space.
    imperial-garden-yuyuan-5.jpg
  • The Surging Waves Garden,  often called Great Wave Pavilion, was built by the Song Dynasty poet Su Shunqing on the site of an existing imperial garden. It is the oldest of the UNESCO gardens in Suzhou, keeping its original Song Dynasty layout. The name is derived from a verse in the poem Fishermen by Qu Yuan in his book Songs of the South, "If the Canglang River is dirty I wash my muddy feet - If the Canglang River is clean I wash my ribbon".  This verse alludes to an official who removes himself from politics rather than act in a corrupt manner.  After his death the garden passed through many owners and fell into disuse until it was restored by the governor of Jiangsu Province.  In 1955 the garden was opened to the public and in 2000 it was added by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage monument.
    surging-waves-garden-11.jpg
  • The Humble Administrator Garden is considered to be the finest garden in  south China.  The garden's site was initially the residence and garden of Lu Guimeng who was a Tang Dynasty scholar. Later it became part of the Dahong Temple. Wang Xiancheng took possession of the temple and began work on the garden in collaboration with the renowned artist Wen Zhengming. The garden symbolized Wang's desire to retire from politics and adopt a secluded hermit life.
    humble-administrator-01.jpg
  • Practicing Tai Chi at Beihai Park,  an imperial garden to the northwest of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Initally built in the 10th century, it is among the largest of Chinese gardens and contains numerous historically important structures, palaces and temples. It is also a popular place for early morning exercise routines.
    beihai-park-5.jpg
  • Colorful boats at Renmin Park or Peoples Park in Chengdu.  Renmin Park has many teahouses, a large pond, pleasure boats and lots of greenery right in the center of Chengdu.
    renmin-chengdu-2.jpg
  • Chinese Garden at Confucious Temple, Nagasaki - The temple is a unique structure that blends the architectural styles of both Southern and Northern China.  Confucius was born over 2,500 years ago in Shandong as the 2nd son of a military man. He devoted himself with study and preaching to his disciples. His most famous writing is The Analects of Confucius, a record of his collected sayings, teachings in his dialogues with his disciples and the disciples' conversations with Confucius about their beliefs. The entire mausoleum contains twenty compilations of the Sayings of Confucious.
    confucious-nagasaki-3.jpg