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Tongli Gardens Part 1

The gardens of Tongli were exquisite. Although not as refined as Suzhou's famous gardens, the gardens here were no less beautiful, and because they are not as famous as Suzhou's, they are far less crowded. Since at 2:30, the tourist busses leave Tongli, the gardens are empty of people in the afternoons. The peacefullness of these gardens combined with their exquisite design, makes them enchanting. The gardens are perfectly designed so that only a small part of them can be viewed at a time, so visitors wandering down their meandering paths have new scenes unfold in front of them as they progress.


The buildings of the gardens are beautiful, and are nesttled amongst the ancient trees, and bamboo groves. Many of the small pavilions have girls dressed in traditional costumes playing traditional Chinese music, which ads a wonderful atmosphere to these already beautiful gardens. From the second floor of the garden's buildings, I got a bird's eye view of the garden, and it looked like the gardens went on forever..


The water features of Tongli's Gardens are built to resemble natural lakes and rivers. Dotted with trees and rocks, their reflections of the surrounding gardens are fantastic. I was so mesmerized by Tongli's gardens. I would happily give up all I own to live in one. They are walking through living paintings. I dream of having a small traditional Chinese garden of my own some day.


The photos shown here are from the largest of Tongli's gardens. The owner has traveled around the area collecting ancient buildings and rebuilding them in this garden. He has saved many ancient structures from demolition. My hat's off to him. Many of these ancient buildings are the only surviving example.


I can't properly describe the feeling of peace I got from Tongli's gardens. They were so wonderful! I could have spent the entire day in just one of them.


I guess that means I am going to have to go back some day huh?

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Photos

Small Courtyard
This is a small courtyard near the entrance to one of Tongli's gardens. The porcelain bowl is a traditional Chinese fish bowl.

A Bird's Eye View
This is a bird's eye view of one of Tongli's Gardens. It was exquisite!

Stage Roof
This is the roof of the stage in one of Tongli's gardens.

Bird
In this photo you can see the labyrinth of buildings that make up one of Tongli's gardens.

Garden's Walkway
This is one of the covered walkways along a large pond.

Comments

[Oscar]

What beautiful pictures! You are an amazing photographer!