Mar 1st – Nov 15th 7:30am - 5:30pm; Nov 16th – Feb 29th 7:30 - 5pm
3 Canlangting Street
沧浪亭街3号
0512 6529 3109
Let us preface this by saying that next month we will not be featuring hot spots that include any of the following: bamboo gardens, strange rocks, brightly colored fish, UNESCO World Heritage Site markers, and hopefully none of the other objects and ideas that have grown to become cliché to anybody who has been in Suzhou for any extended period of time. Basically, no more gardens for a while. It's just that we can't help it. Suzhou has a lot of gardens.
For now, trust us when we say that Canglang Pavilion (a.k.a. Blue Wave Pavilion) is worth seeing for the following reasons. One, it's the oldest garden in the city; it dates back over one thousand years to the Southern Song Dynasty. Two, the entrance price is only fifteen kuai. Best of all is that nobody else goes there. Once you're in, you'll probably have the place to yourself, unless it happens to be a public holiday. Inside, you'll find some amazing furniture made from banyan tree roots behind a rope, but there is nobody there to stop you from trying it out.
This garden is small. It may be slightly bigger than the Humble Administrators Garden. Still, it's somewhat unique from other gardens in Suzhou in that it appears to be wilder than all the others. You get a sense that plants and rocks within the confines of the garden really did appear that way naturally, without the help of people. This contradicts the fact that this garden has been in constant use by scholars and poets for more than a thousand years, but that must be why people say things get better with age. The Mingdao Hall (Enlightened Way Hall), located to the south of the Taihu rock pile, is the major building in the garden. It was said to have been a site for lectures during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Surrounded by verdant trees, it appears simple but dignified. On the walls of the hall hang three rubbings of Song Dynasty steles. The rubbings show a view of the night stars in the 14th century, various vehicles of the time, and a map of Pingjiang (today's central Suzhou) that is still useful for getting around town. If you don't make it this winter, you can always wait until next autumn when the osmanthus flowers will be in full bloom.
Tickets: Peak Season-20RMB, Off Season-15RMB
Hours: Mar 1st – Nov 15th 7:30am - 5:30pm; Nov 16th – Feb 29th 7:30 - 5pm
Busses: 1, 14, 28, 30, 51, 101, 102, 103, 701 Tourist Busses: 2,4,5
','沧浪亭','345','340') "Canglang Pavilion (Blue Wave Pavilion)")
','沧浪亭','345','340') "Canglang Pavilion (Blue Wave Pavilion)")
','沧浪亭','345','340') "Canglang Pavilion (Blue Wave Pavilion)")
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