Good morning dear hivers!
We recently visited The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California, a sweeping 207acres of the collections-based institution, 130 acres of which are dedicated to its botanical gardens.
It has walking trails around 16 stunning themed gardens, highlighted by some exquisite architecture. It was a perfect destination for a stroll on a gloriously sunny day!
We purchased our tickets online in advance to avoid the lines at the entrance. So after we got our map of the place, we sauntered to the walking trail that would take us to the gardens.
THE CHINESE GARDEN
Our first stop was the Chinese Garden, also called the “Garden of Flowing Fragrance” or Liu Fang Yuan. It is a huge 12 acres of garden with several exquisite pavilions, exotic plants, and a lake.
Each pavilion bears a name in Chinese characters and some entrances are also decorated with poetic couplets. The names of the places themselves speak poetry. The style of the garden reflects that of Suzhou, the garden city of southern China, and it bears the four essential elements - water, rocks, plants, and architecture that have links to Chinese literature.
We entered the Chinese garden through the courtyard fronting an elegant pavilion with a decorated and swooping roof. The Flowery Brush Library is a scholar’s studio and a garden retreat for painting and calligraphy, the most popular Chinese art form. The sign in the courtyard reads, “A garden of words”.
The expansive courtyard is paved with intricate pebble mosaics, as are the walkways, and links the pavilions to each other; the area serves as the center for cultural programs.
This wall with the undulating tiled roof simulates the form of a dragon, which is believed to live in the water, according to legend. The dragon rises to the clouds and brings rain.
The Wall has latticed windows that provide a “glimpse to the world beyond”.
We found the heart of the Chinese garden - this Lake of Reflected Fragrance. The calm water beautifully reflects the surrounding landscape and the bridges. Watching the water evoked in us feelings of tranquility and peace.
This is one of five quaint bridges that cross over the lake. It is made of stone that was carved out of imported solid granite.
This weaving bridge “Joy of Fish” derived its name from the book “Autumn Floods” by Zhuang Zhou. In the book, the author writes, “See how minnows come out and dart around where they please!”
So we crossed the fish bridge and continued our walk around the lake. On the south bank of the lake, we came across the Hall of Jade Camellia, which is a tea pavilion. The camellia is called a “tea flower’ in Chinese.
This pavilion with the elegant roof sweeping upward overlooks the lake in the south and offers amazing views of the garden. It has intricate woodwork, open sides, and built-in benches - a very welcome resting place in between walks. We rested here for a few minutes while we took selfies.
This is a rock grotto on the northwest side of the lake, made of tons of piled rocks. An essential component in a Chinese garden, the flowing water contributes to the “yin and yang” Chinese philosophy of balance.
Do you see these giant rocks decorating the garden and the courtyard? These limestone _Taihu _garden rocks in myriad shapes, textures, and holes were farmed from the Great Lake region near the city of Suzhou. Taihu stones have been the main object of poems in Chinese poetry.
These diminutive _penjing _plants, similar to the Japanese bonsai, are scattered across the Chinese garden mostly near portals. Here they are strategically placed around the Verdant Microcosm, the garden’s penjing complex.
Well, guys our enchanting walk around the Chinese garden ends here but we will continue on to the other gardens - the equally stunning Japanese garden and the Rose garden. That will be our walk for another day.
Thanks for the read guys! Let’s keep on walking. It does the body good!
[//]:# (!pinmapple 34.130710 lat -118.132636 long the huntington library art museum d3scr)