Geyuan Garden |
Geyuan Garden is located in the north of Yangzhou City. The name of the garden “个"(gè) comes from the Chinese character “竹"(zhú) so as to represent the various kinds of bamboos. The name also goes after the shape of the bamboo leaves. Every bamboo leaf are like “个", so does the shadow of them. Geyuan Garden is a unique private garden. Entering to the garden, there is a half-moon shaped gate, above which there written two Chinese characters “个园". On both sides of the gate, there are luxuriant bamboos. In the evening, in the bright moon light, the shadow of the bamboo leaves are like thousands of “个". It is said that the best gardens in China are in Yangzhou and the best rockeries are in Geyuan Garden. It is famous for its Four-season Rockeries. The Spring Rockery (chūn 春山) is near the gate of the garden. The landscape outside the gate is like a picture of bamboos and stone, which was made with scrupulous care, expressed people’s longing for and value of spring with succinct skill and laid bare the theme of bamboo and stones. The Summer Rockery (xià shān 夏山) is in the northwest. Tall bamboos are luxuriant and green trees offer shades. Summer Rockery in Geyuan Garden looks like clouds standing still because builders used the soft and mild curves of stones from Lake Taihu and put them together in order to imitate clouds in the sky of summer days. At the foot of the rockery there is a pond with green water. Green trees shade the pond and rockery, creating the scene of a Chinese ink painting. The gleaming water in the pond mirrors the blurred images of rockery and trees, which looks like clouds gathering and dispersing under water. The Autumn Rockery (qiū shān 秋山) is piled up with Yellow Stones. It looks energetic and powerful. It is matched mainly with maple trees, pines and cypress trees. At sunset, green pines, red maple and brownish yellow stones jointly form a scene like a picture. But the wonder of Autumn Rockery is its design of interior mountain path, being spiral up and down and crisscross. There is a pavilion on the top of the rockery, which is the highest point of the whole garden. The Winter-Rockery (dōng shān 冬山) is the most creative one among all the rockeries. It is piled up of white Xuan stones, which makes the rockery seems as covered with snow. On the south wall there are four lines of holes to create the wind. On the west wall, there is a round window, through which you can see the green bamboos, blooming flowers, and it seems like that spring is coming. Geyuan Garden
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