Out of the nine designated gardens, I visited four on a day trip from Shanghai. I choose the ones that are located near the city center of Suzhou: the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lion Forest Garden, the Garden of the Master of Nets and finally the Canglang Pavillion. They are within reasonable walking distance from each other, about half an hour between each.

The Humble Administrator's Garden is more what I'd like to call a park rather than a garden. Although space here is delusive: when I looked at the map of the garden at the entrance, I thought I would have to walk quite some distances. But all the scenery is linked and no space is left without any form of human design.

Nearby is the Lion Forest Garden. This is for sure the weirdest of the four. A whole mountain landscape is rebuilt here with lots of Taihu rockery. A contemporary (14th century) poem reads: "People say I am in a city, but I suspect I am among thousands of mountains". Visitors nowadays can climb up, under and through these rocks, something even the Chinese grannies did with ease and pleasure. I found it quite difficult to find a way out of the 'mountains', I suppose I'm too big or too tall to fit through all the openings.

To reach the Garden of the Master of Nets, you first have to brave an alley full of souvenir stalls and some beggars. The rooms in this house attract more attention than its tiny garden.

The Canglang Pavillion is one of the oldest in this WHS. It now looks somewhat desolate and is partly overgrown. The highlight here is the Bamboo House with its play of bamboo and sun.

 

To my own surprise, I rather liked my day at these gardens. The ones I visited are clearly different from each other and pleasing to the eye. And I also enjoyed myself by continuing to look out for "Things Chinese" - something I have started in Qufu inspired by the book of the same name. Besides the abundant Taihu rockery I ticked off a marble boat at the Lion Forest Garden, plenty of scenic openings in various shapes at the Canglang Pavillion and wonderful covered corridors in all gardens.