Suzhou Lion Forrest Garden

The second garden we visited in Suzhou was quite different from the first. The Lion Forrest Garden was originally built as a Buddhist Temple. It's name is derived from the rock formations throughout, many of which resemble a lion. During the late Qing Dynasty a private family bought the property and lived there. Then the owner took his family to the U.S. and raised and educated his children there. One of his sons became quite famous for his work and in his later years returned to Suzhou and donated the property to the government for use as a public garden. Many of you may recognize him as the world renown architect I.M. Pei. He also designed the Suzhou Museum and has iconic buildings in most of the major cities of the world.


The Lion Forrest Garden is much bigger than the previous one we visited. It's entrance is more elaborate and guarded by three gods of fortune.

There is even a dragon or two keeping watch.

Almost anywhere you go in China (including many of the shops) the doors will be guarded by lions. They are always in pairs with one being male and the other female. Can you guess which one this is?

This is a male lion and, no, you don't have to peek to see which is which. The male lion always holds an orb representing the earth. The female will always have a cub. Sometimes the cub will also look like a ball, but if you look closely you can distinguish the features.


In some of the rooms that are set for the ladies, the furniture is specifically designed for their comfort.

The piece you see above is arranged so that two ladies may lounge side by side with a table for the tea service between them. I think I would like one of these in my living room - but with puffy cushions.


I mentioned before about the shapes of the interior doors. In this garden most of the doors were in the shape of a vase while a few were in a flower shape.

The interiors were just as beautiful and interesting as before, and there was one   element added by the last owners which is particular to this garden - stained glass. 

 

 Without question the highlight of the grounds were the rock formations and the ponds. Over 15 tons of rocks were dug up from the river beds and transported to create the grounds here. There are walkways and waterfalls and tunnels to traverse. There are so many formations to look at that your head begins to spin.

I mentioned before about the zig-zag bridge to keep away the evil spirits. Well the one in this garden must surely work well.

Another unique feature is a boat shaped pavilion for resting by the water. The boat was made of concrete as a sign of the wealth and status of the home owners. 

Wandering through the area I kept looking for the lion shaped formations. There are supposed to be 17 I think. Anyway, as we neared the end of our tour, I found one I was sure everyone could recognize.

With a few final peeks and a fantastic wall tree, our tour ended.

It was back to Shanghai and I night I will remember for a very long time - but that is for the next post!