2008 Eclipse Trip - Page 21

Gardens in the City of Suzhou

A Snow Scene of the Lingering Garden in the City of Suzhou. Built by a Ming civil servant as a place to meditate it has become a refuge in a crowded city. The Lingering Garden's name came from the original owner's name, which sounds like the character for the word lingering. Subsequent owners continued to use the old name, after they discovered that their own family name for the garden did not catch on with the people of Suzhou.

The garden was first laid out in 1522 AD. The whole space is artfully and appropriately handled, and arranged in an exquisite miniature scale. It is a typical garden of the Ming period with elegance and exquisiteness in the southern Yangtze Valley. The Cloud-Crowned Peak in it is a treasured piece of Taihu rock noted in the region.