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In 1997
the Classical Gardens of Suzhou were added to UNESCO's World Heritage
List.
The Suzhou Gardens are situated at Suzhou City, Jiangsu
Province. Suzhou is an ancient, civilized and beautiful city and
the Suzhou gardens are well-known throughout the world. With
over 170 gardens and sites such as the Lion Forest, Canglang
(the blue sea waves) Pavilion, the Humble Administrator's
Garden, Liu Garden, they are the concentrated expression of the
skilful design and artistic style of Chinese Gardens.
The Humble Administrator's Garden, located at
the northeast street of Suzhou City, is the biggest garden of
Suzhou City, which has won the fame of "Reputed Garden in
the South of China" and "Cream Among the
Gardens".
The Humble Administrator's Garden is laid out
with water as its center which occupies 3/5 of the total area.
The principal architecture is built along the waterside, filled
with natural style of simplicity, brightness, amiability and
vividness. The garden is divided into three parts: east, middle
and west. The middle part is the cream of the whole garden.
Inside are the charming exquisite Yuanxiang (fragrance emitting
far away) Hall, the Hall holding 36 Mandarin Ducks, the Hall of
18 Datura Flowers and more than a decade pavilions; each has its
own style, none has anything similar; they are the prestigious,
luxurious embodiment of the Ming dynasty.
The Lion Forest lies along the Suzhou Garden
Boulevard. There are strange stones resembling lions in the
garden, hence the Lion Forest, famous for its artificial hills
accumulated by the exquisite and skillfully shaped stones from
the Tai Lake. The cave tunnels pass through twists and turns, as
if it were a labyrinth. It is known as the 18 scenic spots of
the Land of Peach Blossoms (A Haven of Peace); on top of the
cave are strange peaks with different posture. The Lion Peak is
ranked the top among other peaks. The overall arrangement has
more forests in the southeast and more water in the northwest
with long winding corridors, the towers and patios faintly
visible in a distance. Having a distinctive style of their own,
many pavilions are built along the waterside with hills as its
settings, scattered here and there; on the walls of the
corridors are more than here and there; on the walls of the
corridors are more than 60 pieces of marble slabs carved with
calligraphy.
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