| Located in Portland's Old Town / China Town area, Lan Su Chinese Garden spreads on only one city block, or about 40,000 square feet. It is a replica of the home of a Ming Dynasty Suzhou offical and scholar named Chu. In such a compact space, the garden carries all the essence of traditional Chinese private garden. All the five elements -- rocks, water, plants, architecture and literary inscriptions -- are presented and integrated harmoniously. It was there that I learned what "a scene in each step" really is. The rocks and bricks were shipped here from China, as well as all the premade wooden building blocks. The reassembling took 65 workers and two cooks 10 months. While most of the plants, Chinese native though, were provided by private donors in America. When the garden was finished and opened to public, it looked like 100 years old already. To me, Portland, Oregon was love at first sight (and bite too -- I will write about that later), and Lan Su is the pearl of the crown. So when I travelled to Portland again last week, I brought my mother-in-law, a veteran architect and renowned city planner, with me. Just like me, Mama too was amazed by the richness, density and how well things are presented in a rushlessness manner. We spent about two hours in this small, yet huge, garden. Before we left, Mama asked about the names of the plants and the designers of the garden. It was easy for the staff to get us a list of all the plants (600+ kinds), but it did cause a little headache for them to figure out the original designers. Luckily, before we gave up, one of the originators of the garden showed up. She knows the designers in person and she told us that she was going to Suzhou soon and was to meet them again. The name of the landscape planner is a lady named He (this garden made her famous), and the architect was a guy named Kuang. They are from Suzhou Urban Planning Institute, where a couple of Mama's college classmates have worked. 1. Layout of the Garden  2. The Entrance  3. Perfect Blend of Modern and Antique  4. Crape Myrtle (紫薇)  5. "Leak" Windows   6. All Sorts of Windows    7. Water, Mountains & Rocks   8. Winding Coridors (回廊)    9. A Cute Little Girl Who Loves Taihu Rocks  10. Moon Gate  11. Rock Paved Courtyard Ground  12. Gold Fishes and Lilies   13. Suzhou Embroidery   14. The Main Building (Tea House)  15. Painted Boat in Willows   ============================================================ History & CultureSource: Lan SU Chinese Garden offical site at The dream of a Chinese garden in Portland began in 1985, when a group of Portland officials, including City Commissioner Mike Lindberg, traveled to China to establish a sister city relationship with Suzhou—one of China’s most fabled historic cities. The group was enthralled with Suzhou’s beautiful gardens and Lindberg resolved to have a garden built in Portland. Three years later, the sister city relationship was established and a nonprofit organization, the Classical Chinese Garden Society, was formed to begin garden planning. Mayor Vera Katz pledged to civic leader Bill Naito her commitment to obtain a garden site. In 1995, the board of Northwest Natural Gas donated a 99-year, $1 lease on the site at Northwest Third Avenue and Everett Street. Two years later, Mayor Katz led a fund-raising initiative and the Classical Chinese Garden Trust was formed. Many foundations and individuals gave their financial support and the Portland Development Commission provided a major loan. In June 1999, picks and shovels clanged on what was the gas company’s parking lot as U.S. companies started the site work. Meanwhile, in Suzhou, artisans built the wooden buildings and cast the decorative windows that were shipped to Portland along with 500 tons of rock. More than 65 Chinese workers (and two Chinese cooks!) arrived in the fall to construct the garden’s buildings and pathways. An authentic plant collection was amassed and planted, thanks to the cooperative effort of landscape designers, generous local nurseries, Portland Parks bureau and volunteer horticulture experts. A third non-profit, the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, was formed to operate the Garden after its opening on September 14, 2000. Thanks to the dream, perseverance and generosity of elected officials, civic leaders and residents, Portland is the proud home of the most authentic Chinese garden outside of China. |
