It is located outside the Cang Gate of Suzhou city with an area of 2.3 hectares. The Liuyuan is the well preserved among all the Suzhou gardens. It is also one of the four most noted traditional gardens in China, (the other three are the Summer Palace in Beijing, the Mountain Summer Resort in Chengde, and the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou). The garden was first built in 1583 of by Xu Taishi, an official of the Ming court, as his private living place. In the year 1794, the garden belongd to the property of the Liu family. After expanded and renovated for several times, it was renamed "Hanbi Villa", which was well known as "Liu Garden". In 1873, it was bought by the Shengs, and renamed as "Lingering Garden," since "lingering" in Chinese sounds the same as "Liu", the surname of the former owner. Today the garden is devided into the four parts: eastern, central, northern and western parts.
The central part is a man-made hill and lakeside viewss, likening a long scroll of traditional Chinese painting. The eastern section is famous for its joyous collection of gardens and elegant hoses; the western section is for the charm of woody hills; and the northern section, villa with bamboo fences and beautiful scenes.
There are a great number of steles in the Lingering Garden not surpassed by any other garden in Suzhou. Skillfully carved with the works of over 100 calligraphers in the Jin, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, they show the evolution of Chinese calligraphy during the past 1,000 years.
Entrance Fee: RMB 40
Open Hours: 07:30 to 17:00
How to get there: 11, Tourism Bus No. 1 & 2
renamed "Hanbi Villa", which was well known as "Liu Garden". In 1873, it was bought by the Shengs, and renamed as "Lingering Garden," since "lingering" in Chinese sounds the same as "Liu", the surname of the former owner. Today the garden is devided into the four parts: eastern, central, northern and western parts.
