Portland: Lan Su Chinese Garden

"It’s 16th century China, and you’re standing in the entry courtyard of the private home and garden of a wealthy family. The garden around you is their spiritual utopia, a peaceful and soothing place designed to help them escape the problems of everyday life and discover their true selves by connecting with nature." This description you'll find at the website of the Lan Su Garden in Portland, Oregon. And a very similar description you'll hear when you take a guided tour (free with your tickets to the garden). I've only visited this magical place twice, once in the middle of Winter when the persimmon tree was covered with bright "lanterns" - its fruit. And another time just two weeks ago, in early Spring, when magnolia, camellia and many other trees and bushes, the names of which I don't even know, offered their splendid blooms.

The garden occupies the whole city block, about 40,000 square feet, with the Lake Zither at 8,000 square feet in the middle. It is surrounded with white walls, which provide the ever-changing play of light and shadow (granted, only possible on a sunny day). But they are not solid walls at that - looking through 51 windows (each unique!), you can see other areas of the garden.

The Garden was created in the style of a traditional scholar's gardens of Suzhou (China), Portland's sister city, in 2000. All the material was shipped from China, including 500 tons of rock. The rock that you see on the photo below is from the Lake Tai, and it's known as Gongshi or Chinese scholar's rock. Since the Tang dynasty, four qualities were being considered valuable for rocks: thinness, openness, perforation and wrinkling. These rocks were also sometimes called "cloud rocks" for their shape and the sense of airiness.

The details in the garden are incredible and almost countless, each with its own deep meaning. Listening to our knowledgeable guide, I thought about just how much we don't know and will never know - how many life mysteries are hidden from our eyes. I loved learning the 5 elements contained in a scholar's garden - now, let me see whether I can remember them all right ... earth, rock, water, poetry and light. 

65 artisans built this beautiful place - without a single nail! - from wood and stone shipped from China. This mesmerizing stone floor was made one little rock at a time, and our guide mentioned that she saw the process that took place 18 years ago. She also said, we could try to recreate something like it in our yard too by simply setting stones into sand, following a certain pattern. On a warmer day, it provides a nice foot massage if you walk in shoes with thin soles, or maybe even barefoot.

I love both, knowing and not knowing. I enjoyed listening to our guide who seemed to know so much about Chinese culture and history; and at the same time I loved just walking in this peaceful place, observing the beauty and simply being in the moment. In my first visit 5 years ago - I didn't know what to expect! - the place seemed a beautiful dream, the most magnificent, almost fantastic garden that I'd ever seen. Now when I look back at these photos taken just a couple of weeks ago, the very existence of such a magnificent and serene exotic garden in the middle of the everyday life of a busy city, seems almost impossible. It is indeed a utopia - but of all the things in the world, a utopia is exactly my cup of tea.

For a day in a garden, I chose to wear my other plaid skirt (or pinafore dress if you will), the vacation sweater and thrifted shirt in cheerful Spring colors and patterns.

What about you - are you ready for a little bit of utopia?

Photos by Justin and myself.

Linking with Visible Monday.

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