Skip to content
Site Tools
Increase font size Decrease font size Default font size default color blue color green color
Home Travel in Jiangsu The Master of the Nets Garden
The Master of the Nets Garden

  The Master of the Nets Garden
Located at the southeast of Suzhou City (sū zhōu shì 苏州市), the Master of the Nets Garden (wǎng shī yuán 网师园) is one of the four famous classic gardens in Suzhou. It is a typical Suzhou private garden, and also a piece of representative work of middle and small-sized classic gardens in the south region of the Yangtze River.

Wanjuan HallThe garden is first constructed in the Southern Song Dynasty (nán sòng 南宋) with an original name “Fisher’s Shelter”(yú yǐn 渔隐). It was inspired by the simple and solitary life of a Chinese fisherman. Then in the Qing Dynasty (qīng cháo 清朝), during the middle reign of Emperor Qianlong (qián lóng dì 乾隆帝), an official named Song Zongyuan (sòng zōng yuán 宋宗元) redesigned the garden and added multiple buildings. He retained the humble spirit of the site and renamed it the Master of the Nets Garden. During the late years of the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the garden was repaired and added more pavilions and houses, and called Qu Garden (qú yuán 瞿园). The present layout of the Master of the Nets Garden is the relics of the Qu Garden, and is well deserved.

Jixu HallThe Master of the Nets Garden covers an area of more than 5333 square kilometers. It can be divided into three major parts: the east part, the middle part and the west part. In front of the gate, there is a screen wall with a row of iron rings for tethering horses, and two alleyway side entrances. Two huge blocks of stone carved in shape of drums, decorated with the sculptural relief of the lion playing the silk ball.

Wufeng Study HouseThe east part is the residential houses. The first hall is the Entrance Hall (mén tīng 门厅), and then the Sedan Chair Hall (jiào tīng 轿厅), the east of which there is a lane. At the back of the Sedan Chair Hall, there is the Wanjuan Hall (wàn juàn táng 万卷堂), the arch in front of which can be traced back to the reign of Emperor Qianlong, delicately carved and is crown as the best one among all the arch. At the back of the Wanjuan Hall, there is the Xiexiu House (xié xiù lóu 撷秀楼) where the family used to stay. The furniture in these halls is mainly made of red sandalwood and in the style of Qing Dynasty, delicate and magnificent. Every hall has a door or walk-way leading to the garden.It is a typical example of combining living quarters with a landscape garden in Suzhou.

DianchunyiThe middle part is the main part of the garden. There is much architecture within this part. In the south, there are the Conggui Pavilion (cóng guì xuān 丛桂轩), Daohe House (dǎo hé guǎn 蹈和馆) and the Instrument Room (qín shì 琴室). In the north, there are the Wufeng Study Room (wǔ fēng shū wū 五峰书屋), Jixu Building (jí xū zhāi 集虚斋), which are used for reading and study. All the houses and pavilions are around the pool in the center. The bank of the pool is piled up with yellow stone. At the both end of the pool, there are two streams, with small bridges spanning on it. The pavilions and houses around the pool are exquisite. The huge buildings hide in the back of the trees and rockeries, which makes the scenery much more changeful.

Zhuwaiyizhi VerandaThe west part is the inner garden, covering a area of about 1 mu. On the north side, there are three small rooms, called Dianchunyi (diàn chūn yí 殿春簃). In old times, it was famous for its wide planted peony, and was used as the study room. To the north of these tree rooms, there are rockeries piled up with limestone, decorated with plum, bamboo and Japanese banana. To the west, there are rooms which were used to be the painting room of Zhang Daqian (zhāng dà Yijing Bridgeqiān 张大千) and his brother Zhang Shanzi (zhāng shàn zǐ 张善子), who were the famous painters in China. At the south side of the inner garden, there is the a zigzag flower flat, opposite to the Dianchunyi. To the southwest of the flower flat, there is a natural spring called Hanbi Spring (hán bì quán 涵碧泉), which makes the Lengquan Pavilion (lěng quán tíng 冷泉亭) famous.

Tourists who come to visit the garden at night, not only can appreciate the night view of the garden, but also can enjoy the storytelling and ballad singing in Suzhou dialect (sū zhōu píng tán 苏州评弹) and Kunqu opera (kūn qǔ 昆曲).

The Master of the Nets Garden
Night View of the GardenLocation:
No. 11, Kuojiatou Lane (kuò jiā tóu xiàng 阔家头巷), Suzhou City
Admission fee:
RMB 30 (April 16 – October 30)
RMB 20 (October 31 – April 15)
RMB 80 (Garden at night)
Opening hours:
7:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (March 1 – Novermber 15)
7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (November 16 – February 29)
Garden at night: 7:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. (Mid-March – Mid- November)
Transportation: you can take tourist bus Line 2, or bus No. 202, 204, 529, 931, 47, 501, and 55 to get there directly

Purchasing Online