Chinese Gardens

Chinese garden design reached its fullest development during the late Ming dynasty, where gardens were commonly found in homes of the elite. Gardens were particularly prevalent in southeastern China south of the Yangzi, especially in Hangzhou (p308), Yangzhou (p233) and Suzhou (p243).

Rather than lawn and flowers, the three principle elements of Chi- nese gardens are rock, water and stone, arranged in formations that mimic well-known mountains or paintings. Gardening was considered an intellectual pursuit and calligraphy, poetic names, references to liter- ary classics and other complementary art forms are featured in many Chinese gardens.

Although many are park-like in scale, historically Chinese gardens were nothing like the public parks of today. They were compounds to which only a tiny portion of the population ever had access. The larger and grander of these were imperial, existing to please and entertain the emperor. In prosperous regions, private gardens also proliferated in cer- tain periods. At its peak Suzhou had hundreds of gardens, and the city was registered as a Unesco World Heritage site in 1997 in recognition of those that remain. The numerous pavilions dotted around the gardens were used for

everything from meditating and playing chess to musical performances and banqueting.

CHINA'S TOP 10 GARDENS

Beihai Park, Beijing

Summer Palace, Beijing

Yuyuan Gardens, Shanghai

Garden of the Master of the Nets, Suzhou, Jiangsu

Humble Administrator's Garden, Suzhou, Jiangsu

Slender West Lake, Yangzhou, Jiangsu

Cuihu Park, Kunming, Yunnan

Wuhou Temple, Chengdu, Sichuan

Shuzhuang Garden, Gulang Yu, Fujian

Du Fu's Cottage, Chengdu, Sichuan