The gardens of Suzhou have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site,recognized as major repositories of cultural achievement.Parhaps the lord of them all is the Humble Administrator’s Garden,the largest of Suzhou’s gardens.If you can only see one garden while in Suzhou,this one is highly recommended.About 60% of its area is water and there is an extensive network of paths and bridges following streams that culminate in a magnificent for resting and taking in the striking views and a lovely home that features the Mandarin Duck Hall.This is an excellent collection of bonsai trees at one end of the garden.

The Humble Administrator’s Garden

  The Humble Administrator’s Garden was originally built in 1509,also is the fourth year of Zhengde period in Ming Dynasty.It was initially a private garden of a former government offical named Wang Xianchen.

  The whole garden consists of 3 parts and some residential buildings.These 3 parts are divided into the easten 、weatern and middle part.Every part has its own distinctive features.The east section lies directly inside the main entrance.It’s dotted with sheer hills, green grasses, dense bamboo and pine forests and winding streams.The Central Section is the cream of the garden, with one-third of its area covered by water. Buildings in varied sizes and shapes are constructed around the central pond lined with exuberant trees and multicoloured flowers reminiscent of the scenery in th south of the Lower Yangtze. Lying at the western end of the central garden, the Western Half Pavilion is the division spot for the central and western sections. A moon gate named Scenery of Exceptional Beauty in the pavilion opens to the western garden with an area of nearly about 8.3 square kilometers. Also centered on a pond, this part remains almost the same as the Supplementary Garden built by a rich merchant in the Qing Dynasty. In designing this garden he introduced lots of new ideas and fancy buildings into his estate. The decorative style adopted here is somewhat lavish.