Blue Wave Pavilion [Suzhou]

Canglang Pavilion is the oldest garden among the 4 classical gardens in Suzhou. 3 others gardens include 'Lion Grove', 'Humble Administrator's Garden' and 'Garden for Lingering In'. An admission fee of RMB 10 is required

Hidden down asmall lane is one of Suzhou's most interesting garen, and the oldest. It is little visited, not having quite the same panache as the Humble Adminstrator's Garden nor the incredible attention to detail found in the Garden of the Mater of Nets, but the Blue Wave Pavilion (or the Surging Wave Pavilion as it is also knowns) is one of Suzhou's true gems. Sadly, it original context has been lost as a key part of its design was using water, panoramas and trees outside the garden, but these have now either goneor been so altered that the effect is totally lost: this is always a danger of designing anything which relies upon things which you cannot control. As Frances Wood in the “Blue Guide to China” suggests, the same effect has been more successfully employed at the Summer Palace in Beijing. This is a garden in which colour plays very little part, and the prime function was the juxtaposition of art, shadow and water. It requires perhaps a better understanding of classical Chinese values and perspectives on aesthetics than other better-known gardens. The Canglang Ting has a long history, having been originally the house and garden of Su Shunqin, constructed in 1044AD and enlarged in 1696 when it was being restored during Emperor Kangxi's time (the front area is the newer part). The garden has no specific main focus, instead being divided into many small gardens and courtyards, with carefully constructed views from each of the rooms, and incorporating many wonderful picture windows, where the windows have been created in various shapes.

The proximity of buildings at the rear of the garden has runied the atmosphere inside the garden completely, and even though tall bamboo has been grown here, it is a bit of a lost cause: the Looking at Mountains Pavilion now looks only at the buildings ten metres away. Contrary to what Frances Wood says, the hills outside Suzhou cannot be seen. One of the highlights of the garden is the Five Hundred Arhats hall where, through the Ming and Qing Dynasty, lectures were given. Nearby are a number of small halls and pavilions, so intricately linked together that it is difficult to see the whole layout – the desired effect. The planting is not so careful as at the Garden of the Master of Nets, but it still works well. The western end of the garden is the famed double-sided corridor, ending in the Watching Fish Pavilion looking out across the water. Again development has rather destroyed the effect, but it is still impressive. Many will be disppointed with the Blue Wave Pavilion, because it feels a bit run down.In fact, I suspect it is closer to the original design and planting than any of the other gardens in Suzhou, and gives a real peaceful feel, enhanced by receiving very few visitors. For me, a favourite garden in Suzhou, but for others it may be a let down!

During my first trip to Suzhou, I enjoy bicycling with the masses along canals and over bridges. In my trip last year, there are now more cars around. New roads are being built and maps are not updated fast enough. Hope you will get to still see these two bridges. They are still there but a lot of new construction around them.

The little-visited Deep Blue Waves Pavilion Garden (Canglang Ting) is the oldest surviving of Suzhou's classical gardens, having been first laid in 1044. Water isn't a prominent feature here (though there is one pond and a surrounding moat), and the centre of the garden is dominated by a mound on top of which is a pavilion. You will notice the distinct absence of tour groups here, making the garden a peaceful retreat that it was, no doubt, meant to be. The garden also utilises the technique of "borrowing" a view - though less famously than the Humble Administrator's Garden.