garden in Portland

[calimac]

Another thing I did in Portland was visit the Lan Su Garden, which was enthusiastically recommended in some guidebooks I consulted. Portland is sister cities with Suzhou, China, a city near Shanghai which is known for its classical scholars' gardens. So about 25 years ago, Portland imported a crew of artisans and a whole lot of Chinese building material to create this garden in the authentic style.* It occupies an entire city block, and it's not all or even mostly plants, though there are plenty of those. There are pathways paved with stones arranged in the shape of various flower petals; there are fish ponds and little bridges over them; and mostly there are what are called pavilions, free-standing buildings mostly about the size of a western living room, intended for various purposes. One is intended as the resident scholar's place; it has one smaller room for his study and workroom, and a larger one as his reception area, with furniture in the Ming dynasty style. An even larger one, with two stories, has been set up as a teahouse.

It's all quite charming - you can see a video tour at the above link - and the guided tour was informative. There's also a gift shop at which I bought a pair of golden butterfly earrings as a Valentine's present for B., which is why I am writing about it today.

*Meanwhile, artisans from Portland built a rose garden in Suzhou.

Comments

[athenais]

I've been visiting Portland most of my life since my family is from there, but I have never been to the Lan Su Garden. I must do that next time.