Published: August 12, 2008 12:05 am      

VICTORIA CZARNEK | Chinese gardens something to see – and hear

This is the sixth in a series of articles concerning Chinese attractions and culture related to the Olynmpic Games being held in Beijing. You can read the entire series at www.tribdem.com/olympics.



I spend a lot of time in the summer planting and transplanting perennials, so I was eager to see a Chinese garden.

When we got to our first one, I walked for several minutes along paths that I thought were leading to flowers. As I realized that the greenery surrounding me was the garden, my initial disappointment evolved to a deep appreciation of the artistry involved.

A Chinese garden includes plants, of course, but it also features water, rocks and architecture designed to provide many places from which to enjoy its beauty.

The buildings and walkways incorporate wood latticework with windows that frame particularly nice scenes, making it a form of living art with which no painting could compete. Although there are some flowers, green is the predominant color.

Shades of green from the many trees, bamboo and grasses are reflected in the ponds they are planted beside. The sounds of the leaves rustling in the wind and fish splashing in the ponds are very much a part of the experience, as most gardens seem to be walled, fairly effectively muffling the sounds of the outside world and adding to the sense of serenity.

We visited several gardens, ranging from the grand Summer Palace in Beijing, a 726-acre park that served as the summer home of the Imperial Family at the turn of the 20th century, to the intimate 1.5-acre Garden of the Master of the Nets in Suzhou.

Chinese gardens are designed not just to appear natural, but to achieve harmony with nature. Paths meander beside ponds or between trees; straight lines and right angles seem to be present only in the architecture. Large rocks are grouped to look like a natural outcrop, but they also provide a place to rest.

Many walkways are covered so visitors can enjoy strolling through the garden in any weather.

I still love my flowers, but after experiencing the gardens in China, I hope to incorporate some grasses and maybe even bamboo in our yard.

We won’t go to the expense and trouble of building a wall, but figuring out how to import a few large rocks and creating a pond may be a wonderful tribute to the gardens we so enjoyed.



Victoria Czarnek accompanied two of her children, musicians Laura and Nicholas, on the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra tour of China in June. She lives in Richland with her husband, Robert, and three children, Matthew, Laura and Nicholas, and is a math instructor at UPJ.