Suzhou is a city of canals and gardens, and the Garden of Cultivation is one of the smaller and quieter examples of an art that the Chinese took to extraordinary lengths. A scholar's garden here was not simply a plot of flowers. It was a miniature world, a landscape of rocks, water, trees, pavilions and walls, arranged to suggest mountains and rivers and to make a visitor feel they had stepped out of the city. UNESCO listed the classical gardens of Suzhou in 1997, adding more in 2000.
The Ming dynasty, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, saw many of these gardens built by retired officials and wealthy merchants, who used them for poetry, painting, music, tea and conversation. Their design follows careful principles: no single view should be seen all at once, paths twist, windows frame scenes, and pools reflect the sky. Walking through, you pass through moon gates, zigzag bridges and covered corridors, and every turn is a new composition.
The city around the gardens is large, with over five million people, and Suzhou has a long history as a centre of silk production and scholarship. Old canals still run through the centre, with white-walled houses and stone bridges, and boats glide past in the early morning mist. The old saying is that there is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below.
A word of honesty about riding. In Chinese cities, motorcycles are heavily restricted, and many cities ban them in central areas. Foreign riders usually need special permits and licensing, so riding here is not a casual matter. Most visitors get around by metro, bus or taxi, and the gardens are best explored on foot in any case. Fuel and food are plentiful in the city, and local dishes include sweet and sour mandarin fish and noodles with a clear, delicate broth. Come early in the morning to enjoy a garden before the tour groups arrive, and in spring or autumn, when the weather is mild. Take your time, and sit for a while in a pavilion.