Humble Administrator’s Garden

The Humble Administrator’s Garden (Zhuozheng Yuan) is most representative and finest garden in the south of the Yangtze River and one of four great gardens in China. With an area of 52,000sqm, it is the largest ancient garden in Suzhou. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and 5A (the highest) scenic area.

The garden was originally the home of a poet named Lu Guimeng in the Tang Dynasty. Then it became Dahong Temple in the Yuan Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644), it was bought by Wang Xiancheng after he resigned from being a royal censor. He changed it into gardens by digging lakes and building artificial islands and named the garden after an essay-On Idle Living by Pan Yue: “Building houses and planting trees are free and contented; watering gardens and growing vegetables are the affairs (Zheng) of humble (Zhuo) people,” Hence the name Zhuozheng Garden.

With many towers, pavilions, bridges, connected pools, and chambers, the garden contains 48 different buildings with various tablets, steles, precious old trees, and over 700 bonsais. The garden can be divided into three parts, including: Eastern Garden, Central Garden, and Western Garden.

The essence of the whole garden is located in the Central Garden. Artificial islands are linked in the lotus pond. The surrounding avilion is densely grown with bamboo trees and other various plants. Exquisite bridges and artificial stones enhance the beauty of the garden. Everything matches with each other. In the summer, fragrance smell will spread around from the lotus pond.