The Garden of Cultivation Guide

The garden of cultivation was built in the Ming dynasty. It has changed its names for several times from Zuiyin Hall to the Garden of Medecine, then the Jintin mountain villa, at last the name “garden of cultivation” has been used by now.Located in the deep alley, the garden of cultivation enjoys a quiet environment. It covers an area of five mu and centers on the pools which account for 1/5 of the total area of the garden. With much of the layout, design principles and other characteristics of the Ming garden being kept, it is of high historical and artistic values. Because of this, the garden of cultivation has been listed as the world cultural heritage. Besides in 2001, it was chosen as the ancient architecture in the Ming dynasty to be on the list of the sixth national key units of protected cultural relics by the state council.

The garden features “mountain scenery” to the south of the pond and building to the north. The pond has a roughly rectangular shape with coves at the southeast and southwest corners, which are spanned by low, flat and small bridges. On the east and west banks of the pond are roofed and open-sided galleries, pavilions, rocks and trees, serving transitionally as a foil to the northern and southern scenes. In the south, rockries are piled up with cliffs, pathways, forming a natural and varied landscape. In the north, numerous buildings of different sizes are arranged closely with each other, which is rarely to be seen in Suzhou gardens. The scenery of the north and south contrast with each other. At the southeast corner of the pond is the Fry Pavillion that dates from the Ming dynasty. A moon gate in the wall that borders the pond and the mountains leads to a small garden court on the southwest, which is the quietest place in the whole garden.

• Water Town Tongli
• The Lingering Garden
• The Ancient Grand Canal
• The Master of Nets Garden
• Silk Embroidery Factory
• Tiger Hill
• Xuanmiao Taoist Temple
• Panmen Scenic Zone
• Shiquan Culture Street
• Zhouzhuang town
• Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty
• The Garden of Cultivation
• Lingering Garden
• Suzhou Museum
• Lion Grove Garden
• Hanshan Temple
• Jinji Lake
• Shantang Street