Lingering Garden 留园

About Lingering Garden

Its central garden gathers buildings around a pond and a yellow-stone grotto, while the eastern section focuses attention on a major viewing stone.

The western part is more open and natural in character, with fewer buildings and an artificial hill. The covered corridors make these differences readable as a sequence of framed scenes. Take time to compare the garden’s use of enclosure, stone and water instead of treating every pavilion as a separate attraction.

Lingering Garden was built beginning in 1593 for Xu Taishi (徐泰时), who had already been dismissed from his post as Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, and was designed by the rockery specialist Zhou Shichen (周时臣); it was first named Dongyuan (东园). In 1798 Liu Shu (刘恕) rebuilt the then-derelict garden as Hanbizhuang (寒碧庄), also known as Liu Yuan (刘园) after his surname, and opened it to the public in 1823. After falling into neglect during the Taiping Rebellion, it was bought in 1873 by the official Sheng Kang (盛康), who rebuilt it over three years, completing the work in 1876 and giving it, as a homophone of the earlier name, its present name.

During the Japanese occupation the garden was abandoned again and used to stable army horses; after 1949 the Suzhou government restored it and reopened it to the public in 1954. It is now grouped with the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Chengde Mountain Resort and Suzhou's Humble Administrator's Garden as one of China's four great classical gardens.

In 1961 Lingering Garden was named by the State Council among the first group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位). In 1997, together with three other classical Suzhou gardens, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

What to look for

• Covered walkways connect contrasting themed sections.
• The central pond and grotto differ from the eastern scholar-stone composition.
• The western section has a more open, hill-and-planting character.

The surrounding area

A provincial city base for classical gardens, canals and soup-noodle breakfasts; do not confuse its old city with the distant North railway station.

Location & getting there

Getting to Lingering Garden

Approach 338 Liuyuan Road in Suzhou and follow the signed route through the garden’s four sections.