The Lingering Garden

The lingering garden is hidden away up on the Northwest side of Suzhou.  It is not actually in the old city proper...the rectangular island encircled by the grand canal.  But it is just outside, not far from ShanTang street and the JinMen area.

By this time, you're probably sick of garden stories and photos.  Sorry for that.  I'll try to keep this relatively painless.

 The Lingering Garden is a nice little garden....not so large or famous as the Humble Administrator's garden or Tiger Hill....but still a solid role player in the collection of Suzhou tourist attractions.   It is located in a residential neighborhood.  I walked past the gate twice before I finally figured out that it was the entrance.  You have to snake your way back away from the street to get into the heart of the garden.

 Once there, the Lingering Garden has ponds and rocks and greenery and ornate pavilions.   All that can be said for any of Suzhou's Gardens.   To set it apart, I think, the garden features performances of traditional Chinese music.  I believe the performers are serious about their craft.  You would have to be serious to perform all day in the 100 degree heat.

The lady in the second photo is playing a Guqin.  Her performance was purely instrumental.  The third picture shows a man playing a Sanxian and a woman playing a Liuqin (or perhaps it is a Pipa).  Their performance included vocals.  She did the singing.  All he had to do was play his Chinese banjo.  The vocals were of that distinctive high-pitched wavering melody that we all associate with Chinese music. 

The other distinguishing feature of the garden was its rockery.  It had a mound of rocks with narrow passages up and down the mound.   The passages are like trenches of World War I.  It also has a substantial collection of Penjing....the Chinese version of Bonsai.  The garden also had the best signage of any garden we've visited.  The signage actually merits a post of its own.