The time-honored art of the ancient Chinese gardens is highly characteristic and have influenced Chinese and foreign garden architeciure.

Ancient Chinese gardens are divided into imperial gardens and private gardens. Some famous examples of imperial gardens include the Summer Palace, the Chengde Mountain Resort and the Beihai Park. The best examples of private gardens are the classical gardens in Suzhou, which have always been known as “the best gardens both in Jiangnan and the world”. The Summer Palace, the Chengde Mountain Resort, Suzhou Humble Administrator’s Garden and Suzhou Lingering Garden are known as the lour famous gardens in China. 

1. The Imperial Garden: The Summer Palace

  The Summer Palace is a large-scale imperial landscape garden located in the western suburbs of Beijing. It covers an area of more than 2.9 million square meters, with three-quarters of the area covered by a lake, and contains more than 3,000 rooms in its imperial palaces. It is divided into three areas: administrative, residential and sightseeing. The art design is wonderful, and the atmosphere is a masterpiece of Chinese and foreign garden art. The main scenes of the Summer Palace include the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, the Long Corridor, the Tower of Buddhist Incense, and the Deheyuan Grand Opera Hall. They are all exquisite representations of the wooden architecture of the late Qing Dynasty.

  The administrative area is centered on the Hall of Benevolence and Longevity, just opposite the east gate of the Summer Palace. Above the gate is an inscribed tablet written by Emperor Guangxu, “The Summer Palace”. The Hall of Benevolence and Longevity is the place where the emperors and ministers handled state affairs. Behind it is a group of large courtyards connected by verandas, where Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu, and the imperial concubines lived.  One of the most attractive places in the Summer Palace is the Long Corridor, which is 728 meters long and connects the Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. Walking through it, one quickly realizes it is in tact a dazzling gallery, as each wooden column is painted with pictures. In total, there are more than 14,000 paintings. Because of this, it has been called “the world’s No.1 gallery”.

  The Western Dam and the Tower of Buddhist Incense are famous attractions of the Summer Palace. The Western Dam is a winding long embankment along the western side of the Kunming Lake, modeled after the dams of the West Lake in Hangzhou. There arc six bridge pavilions along the dam, the most famous of which is the Jade Belt Bridge. The Tower of Buddhist Incense is located on the center of the front top on the Longevity Hill. It is 20 meters high and has a complicated structure. It is the center and highest point of the entire garden and as such has become the most famous landmark of the Summer Palace.

  The Deheyuan Grand Opera Hall was built by Emperor Guangxu and was the last building to be built in the Qing Dynasty. It is also the largest ancient theater in Beijing. There are many ancient trees, Tibetan temples and a Suzhou riverbank trading street in the back side of ihe Longevity Hill. On the east side of the Rear Lake, there is an entertainment garden built like the Jichang Garden in Wuxi. It is small and exquisite and is called “the garden in the garden”.

2. The Private Garden: The Humble Administrator’s Garden

  The Humble Administrator’s Garden is the largest classical garden in Suzhou and the finest example of the Jiangnan classical garden-building tradition. Private gardens are generally small in scale, ranging from a few mu to tens of mu, and the area of the Humble Administrator’s Garden is only 58,000 square meters. “Small” is unfavorable for the construction of gardens. Only by careful design and layout can it be turned into an advantage. In its limited area, the Humble Administratofs Garden has used a variety of techniques to expand people’s feelings about real space and create beautiful landscapes and natural lighting. These kinds of methods are a common feature of the classical gardens in Suzhou.

  The Humble Administrator’s Garden is divided into three parts: east, middle and west. The east garden is relatively wide, and the main building is the Pavilion of Fragrant Millet. It is spacious and bright, and the wood carvungs on the windows are simple and natural. The central garden is dominated by water, with small islands. The buildings are simple and beautiful, and the water, flowers and trees form a lush, green landscape. The layout of the west garden is compact, and the main building “Mandarin Duck Hall” has an elegant environment. It is a place where one can enjoy music and rest. The nearby Surging Wave Corridor is a covered bridge over water shaped like a wave that connects the west garden with the central garden. The Fragrant Islet in the water is a two-story building that looks like a stone ship. Here, the name in Chinese has duel meanings for the Chinese characters for “islet” and “boat” are homonyms. It reminds people that “Water can carry a ship, and it can also turn the ship into the bottom of the river.” The garden owner wants to express the scholarly ideal of “Even in the remote comers of the country, we cannot forget to pay attention to national security.”