Retreat & Reflection Garden (Tongli)
Built in the Qing Guangxu era by Ren Lansheng after being dismissed from office and returning home (“retire and reflect on your faults”); a “water-hugging garden” (the whole garden pressed close to the water, laid out horizontally) — unique among Jiangnan gardens
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- 07:30-17:30
- Ticket
- CNY 100 (includes Tongli Ancient Town ticket)
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
In the Qing Guangxu era, military intendant Ren Lansheng was impeached, dismissed and returned home; drawing on the Zuo Zhuan line “in office, think of utter loyalty; in retirement, reflect on your faults,” he built this garden. Laid out horizontally, its pavilions and terraces all press close against the water, the pond almost lapping over the building foundations — hence the name “water-hugging garden,” a one-of-a-kind case among Jiangnan gardens. The Sedan Hall, the Dry Boat and the Nao Hong Yi Ge (“Boat Amid Red Blooms”) rise and fall step by step; wandering the garden feels like sitting in a boat. When Tongli Ancient Town came under comprehensive protection in 1984, the Retreat & Reflection Garden was fully restored, and in 2001 it was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a supplementary property of the Classical Gardens of Suzhou. The garden links up with the “Three Bridges” water lanes of Tongli Ancient Town; entering the town requires a CNY 100 ticket that includes the Retreat & Reflection Garden — allow a good half day, and the garden's night garden is also worth a look.
Getting there: Shuttle bus from Suzhou Railway Station / Metro Line 4, Tongli Station
Photos
More in Suzhou
- Humble Administrator's Garden
Built in the fourth year of the Ming Zhengde reign (1509) by Wang Xianchen, with Wen Zhengming participating in the design, the 'Mother of Chinese Gardens' (a representative Jiangnan garden): Hall of Distant Fragrance / Little Flying Rainbow (Suzhou's only covered bridge) / 'With Whom Shall I Sit' Pavilion
- Suzhou Museum (Main Building)
I.M. Pei's final masterpiece (opened 2006), 'Chinese yet new, Suzhou yet new'; the sliced-rock hillside borrows the white wall of the Humble Administrator's Garden as its backdrop
- Lion Grove Garden
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- Lingering Garden
Xu Taishi built the East Garden in the Ming Wanli era; Liu Shu's Hanbi (Cold Green) Villa in the Qing dynasty
- Master of the Nets Garden
Site of Southern Song Shi Zhengzhi's Wanjuan Hall ('Fisherman's Retreat'); rebuilt in the Qianlong era of the Qing by Song Zongyuan as the 'Master of the Nets' (fisherman, his self-styled name)
- Canglang Pavilion
Built in 1045 (5th year of the Northern Song Qingli era) by Su Shunqin, Suzhou's oldest surviving garden ('scenery before you enter the gate' — double corridor with lattice windows); the famous couplet 'A clear breeze and bright moon are priceless' (assembled from lines by Ouyang Xiu and Su Shunqin)