Lesser-Known Suzhou Gardens: Banyuan Garden

Meet up with your best friend nearby, take a walk in the afternoon, and visit Banyuan Garden, just a few hundred meters away. Banyuan Garden is located in the Peony Pavilion of the Scholars Hotel Pingjiangfu. It was built in the Qing dynasty and expanded during the Xianfeng period. The name "Banyuan" means "contentment." The garden is small, with a pond in the center, surrounded by a boat hall, a waterside pavilion, a winding corridor, and a half pavilion. The buildings are characterized by the theme of "half": "half mountain, half water, half garden," "half bridge, half pavilion, half corridor," and so on. The garden is free to enter. The round gate is closed after 10:30 am, but you can walk towards the hotel front desk and turn right at the moon gate to enter. In winter, during the off-season, the tea restaurant in the garden has no business and no tourists, so you can have the place to yourself. Stroll along the waterside pavilion, where the leaves of the wintersweet have not yet fallen, and the flowers are still in bloom. The wind blows, and the fragrance fills the air. There are no pretentious commercial photos or bustling tourists, just tranquility and elegance. This is the best way to experience a Suzhou garden.