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 Covering
51,950 sq.m,the Humble Administrator's Garden is the largest
of all classical gardens in Suzhou. It is centered upon the
broad expanse of a lake, making up about one fifth of the
total area. With well spaced buildings, the garden landscape
and water scape are simple, extensive and natural, possessing
the traditional appearances of the Ming Dynasty. It is divided
into three parts; the eastern, middle the western parts. The
house lies in the south of the garden.
The middle part is the cream of the garden with marvellous
mountains, clear water, exquisite buildings and exuberant
trees and flower reminiscent of the scenery in the south of
the Lower Yangtze. Lying here and there to the south of the
lake are garden buildings and courts in cluster. On an east-west
axis there's the Hall of Drifting Fragrance in the middle,
flanked by the Loquat Garden Court, the Malus Micromalus Makina
court, the Poeny Pavilion, the Listening to the Sound of Rain
Pavilion, the small canglang, "A Pure Mind Thinks Deep",
and the Magnolia Hall. Rising from the lake are the east and
west hills made from a mixture of earth and rocks, and covered
with trees. the Prunus Mume Pavilion and the Orange Pavilion
stand atop of the hills.By the side of the lake there are
forsythias gently stroking the surface of water, and bringing
about delightful effects of nature. Much of the surprise comes
from the disposition of the Fragrant ISle, the pavilion in
lotus breezes and the Mountain-in-View Tower to the west of
the lake.from the secluded pavilion of Firmiana Simplex and
Bamboo one is able to catch sight of the pagoda of paying
debts of gratitude in distance. The picturesque scene of the
pagoda mirrored in water is an example of the garden technique
called "borrowed view from afar".
 The buildings in
the western part of the garden are properly arranged by the
lake.To the south of the lake is a big mandarin duck's hall
with two halves. The northern half is named "the Hall
of 36 pairs of mandarin ducks" and the southern half
"the hall of 18 camellias ". built to the west of
the lake are the Inducalamus Pavilion, the "With Whom
Shall I Sit"?pavilion,the Floating Green Tower, the Stay-and-Listen
Pavilion, the Pagoda Reflection pavilion.Going up and down
and in a zigzag, a unique veranda over the water is a stucture
built along the wall to the east of the lake. The Good-For-Both-Families
Pavilion on the top of the hill overlooks the middle and western
parts, another example of the garden technique called "
borrowed view from near".
Decorated with the Cymbidium Virens Hall, the lotus pavilion,
the Celestial Spring Pavilion, the Far Away Looking Pavilion
and the All blue Pavilion, the eastern part of the garden
has verdant hills with pine and bamboo , distant islands encircled
by winding streams, and an extensive area of grass, flowers
and trees.
 Glowing
out of the mud, lotus blooms still keep themselves pure and
clean. The farther theirsmell drifts the purer it becomes.
A good number of buildings in the garden are named after lotus
blooms, often known as "a true person of the virtue "among
flowers, such as the Hall of Drifting Fragrance,the Lotus
Pavilion, the pavilion in the Lotus Breeze, and the Stay-and-Listen
Pavilion,expressing the theme of the whole garden----to be
pure as lotus blooms.
Lying to the south of the garden is the house, which is
the typical residence in Suzhou. Ona north-south axis there
are four successive buildings, namely the Sedan-Chair Hall,
the Reception Hall and two two-storeyed buildings. to the
east of the axis are the Mandarin Ducks' Hall with flower-basket
decoration, the Flower Hall and the Four -Sided Viewing Hall.
The Humble administrator's Garden boasts altogether 48 different
buildings, 101 parallel couplets and door plateaux, 40 stelae,
21 precious old trees, namely Wistaria, Sabina chinensis,
Pterocarya stenoptera,etc.falling into 13 different catalogues,
and over 700 bonsai (potted landscape) kept in the Bonsai
Garden in the western part of the garden, representing the
Suzhou style bonsai, one of the four leading bonsai styles
in china.
Website:http://www.zhuozhengyuan.com.cn/
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