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Chinese Garden Preview
Aug. 5, 2006 to Feb. 2007
Beginning Aug. 5, the public will have the opportunity to visit the Chinese Garden, when the site is opened for a six-month preview period while still a “work in progress.” Visitors will be able to stroll around the 1.5-acre lake bordered by craggy Tai Hu rocks and enjoy a landscape that includes five hand-carved stone bridges, a stream, and a canyon waterfall, set against a backdrop of mature oaks, camellias, and pines. In the months ahead, many plants native to China will be added as the landscape is developed.
Viewing the garden in this initial state will give visitors a sense of what’s to come. Foundations are already in place for the structures that will be built around the lake: pavilions, covered walkways, a tea shop, teahouse, and “poetic views” in the tradition of Suzhou-style scholar gardens.
The lake area will close again after the Lunar New Year in February 2007 so that construction can begin on the pavilions. Once complete, the lake and pavilions will comprise the “Summer Garden,” the first five acres of a planned 12-acresite. The Summer Garden is expected to open in fall 2008.
The preview coincides with the exhibition “Chrysanthemums on the Eastern Hedge:Gardens and Plants in Chinese Art,” opening Aug. 5 and continuing through Jan. 7, 2007. Organized by Chinese art historian June Li, curator of the Chinese Garden, the show will provide an overview of the decorative use and stylized motifs of botanical specimens in Chinese art. Painted scrolls, woodblock prints, porcelain and other objects from the 10th to the 18th centuries will be on view. The show, sponsored in part by Cathay Bank, is the first example of how the Chinese Garden will integrate with other institutional endeavors. The Chinese Garden will fundamentally serve as a cultural center and platform for education and research, a place for people throughout Southern California and the world to understand the cultural richness of Chinese gardens.
As I'm approaching 50, retirement is taking more and more of my mind share. A friend suggested that I make a list of 10 things I want to do in retirement. One of them is to build a proper garden in which to relax.
ReplyDeletethoughts of retirement are taking more and more of your mind share. ramping up towards a new career has consumed mine.
ReplyDeletewhen you say proper garden, do you have something similar to the chinese garden pictured in mind?
ever been to the chicago botanical gardens? i can imagine an early sunday stroll there would seem like pure heaven.
i took a local garden tour 2 weekends ago. garden tours are a great way to pick up ideas.
a garden designed for your personal relaxation will have to be one that builds itself, with your sweat assistance
"A Proper Garden" - I don't really have many preconceived ideas. Only a few vague notions. A lot would depend on the land and surroundings.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it would be something designed and executed, as much as it would be refined a bit at a time over the years.
what kind of land and surroundings are in your mind? near water is a given
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I have to find it first. Or perhaps it will find me.
ReplyDelete