The Canglang Pavilion is the oldest of Suzhou's classical gardens, and in a city famous for them, that gives it a certain quiet authority. Its origins go back to the Song dynasty in the eleventh century, when a scholar and poet named Su Shunqin, disgraced and out of office, bought a piece of land and built a retreat beside a pond. He named it Canglang, meaning blue waves, after an old poem about washing one's cap strings in clear water, and the garden has been associated with scholars in exile ever since.
What makes it different from most Suzhou gardens is its openness. Instead of being enclosed entirely by walls, the Canglang Pavilion borrows the view of the water outside, with a long covered corridor running beside the canal, and its walls are pierced with carved lattice windows, each a different pattern, framing little scenes of bamboo, rock and water. Artificial hills of rock and old trees give a feeling of a mountain landscape in miniature. UNESCO lists the classical gardens of Suzhou as a group, with an addition made in 2000.
Suzhou is a city of canals, stone bridges and whitewashed houses with dark roofs, often called the Venice of the East, and a saying goes that there is paradise in heaven and Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth. Silk and embroidery have been made here for centuries, and the local noodle soups and sweet-savoury dishes, often with a hint of sugar, are well known. Come early on a weekday to have the garden almost to yourself, and spring brings blossom and autumn gives clear skies.
Roads in and around Suzhou are busy, with electric scooters, buses and a heavy flow of traffic, so exploring the old city is easier on foot or by bicycle. Fuel, food and lodging are plentiful, and Mudu, a smaller town about eleven kilometres away, has a famous classical garden of its own. Check the rules for foreign motorcyclists in China before bringing a bike.