Some Lights: Suzhou (3) - The Lion Grove Garden

The gardening in Suzhou has been well-known for long time and it reached its height during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Suzhou became the center for a garden supply industry. The classical gardens are preserved as important national culture heritage and nine of them have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site (the 4 largest private gardens in 1997 and subsequently extended to another 5 more garden in 2000).

The Lion Grove Garden (狮子林) is certainly one of the best classical garden in Suzhou. This is the first classical garden in our Suzhou tour and our visit was on 23/05. The Lion Grove Garden was built on 1342 (Yuan Dynasty) and it currently occupies the area of about 10,000 square meters. It is famous for the large and labyrinthine grotto of Taihu rock at the garden's center. Its name derives from the shape of these rocks which are said to resemble lions. Majority of the buildings within the garden are preserved in the unique style of the Yuan Dynasty.

It was extremely crowded in the entire garden and most of the time we have wait for some time to take the photo without interruptions.

Main people were entering the Grand Hall

The Hall of Peace and Happiness

We had fun time especially in the labyrinthine grotto. We had to try and somestimes reverse a couple of times in order to get the correct exit.

Interesting labyrinthine grotto to explore

The Mid-Pond Pavillion was one of the favorite spot with tourists.

Mid-Pond Pavilion

Stone Boat

Pavilion of Vital Energy

Man-made waterfall

Lion Grove Garden Pond

Another point worth mentioning here is the Emperor QianLong from the Qing Dynasty had visited the garden for six times. The tablet inscribed by him (真趣 - True Delight) is currently available in True Delight Pavilion. You can imagine that how much the emperor had enjoyed his stay here.