Classical Gardens of Suzhou

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Classical Gardens Of Suzhou, 1997, Extended 2000); National 5A Tourist Attraction · Suzhou, Jiangsu

The finest scholar gardens in China: walled private worlds of rockeries, ponds, pavilions, lattice windows and framed views, built by retired officials and merchants in the canal city of Suzhou between the 11th and 19th centuries. Nine of them are inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage site. This row is pinned at the largest, the Humble Administrator's Garden, begun in 1509 around a lotus pond, with its famous borrowed view of a distant pagoda. The Lingering Garden holds the towering Cloud-Capped Peak rock, the tiny Master of Nets Garden inspired the Chinese courtyard at New York's Metropolitan Museum, and the Lion Grove is a maze of weathered Taihu stone. Suzhou is about 25-30 minutes from Shanghai by high-speed train.

178 Dongbei Street, Gusu District, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Humble Administrator's Garden daily, roughly 7:30-17:30 in the warmer months and 7:30-17:00 in winter; Lingering Garden about 7:30-17:30. Master of Nets evening programme seasonal, roughly 19:30-22:00. Timed tickets required.

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