Garden of Awakening Orchids .. Portland Chinese Garden

Portland’s Classical Chinese Garden is a setting of ineffable poetry. Enchantingly named, Lan Su Yuan .. The Garden of  Awakening Orchids, the garden reveals the fundamental elements of classical design: Stone gives way to water elements, while the buildings, bridges, and mosaic paving are softened by dense flora.

Belamcanda chinensis Photo © Alice Joyce

Undulating rooflines crown open halls & intimate pavilions. And with every step, lush plantings mark the shifting seasons. The harmony and contrast of these elements imparts energy, qi, within the garden’s walls.

Peaked roof piercing the sky Photo © Alice Joyce

An authentically built classical scholar’s garden of the Ming Dynasty, the Portland Chinese Garden finds inspiration in the classical urban gardens of Suzhou: China’s garden city and Portland’s sister-city in China.

Expert artisans from Suzhou traveled to Portland to assemble the garden’s prefabricated structures, and to create decorative stonework, which boasts an incredible attention to detail. Stout stone lions stand sentry at the garden’s main portal, where visitors pass through an inscribed gate framing the entryway.

Portland Chinese Garden Evergreen Trees Photo © Alice Joyce

A complementary grouping, Three Friends of Winter is comprised of a pine, graceful bamboo and plum tree that traditionally appear in Chinese art.

The Great Gardens of China… on Amazon

Cycad / Shadow Photo © Alice Joyce

One can learn much about Chinese Garden Design from a beautiful and engaging book I reviewed some years ago. Hopefully I’ll have an opportunity one day to tour the country’s fascinating parks and gardens.

Lake Tai rocks hold prominent places within the garden. As you proceed to discover the setting’s full beauty, the symbolic nature of such distinctive rocks is revealed as integral to the philosophical character – the yin and yang – of an idealized setting.

A glassy lake harmoniously links each aspect of the landscape. Wandering through the garden, you’ll come upon terraces and foot bridges poised to look out over a pond adorned with water lilies. Elsewhere, a rockery and waterfall create a commanding tableau. Spacious pavilions with tile roofs, covered bridges, craggy limestone rocks representing cloud configurations, and mesmerizing mosaics are among the Chinese Garden’s compelling aesthetic features.

Around every turn, a unique view emerges; while gazing out from the Knowing the Fish Pavilion or from the shelter of the Moon Locking Pavilion … you’ll perceive vistas designed to appear distant: the Clouds Bridge and Tower of Cosmic Reflections.

Intimate vignettes catch the eye. Plum blossom on cracked ice – a mosaic stone pattern emerges underfoot. An illustrious carved panel draws you in at eye level. Plants sourced in the Pacific Northwest encompass species indigenous to China, all sited to artfully accompany the architecture. Edgeworthia, chrysanthemums, magnolias, arising as alluring accents surrounding the Hall of Brocade Clouds.

In the courtyard outside the Scholar’s Study – the Celestial Hall of Permeating Fragrance – the perfume of gardenias and wintersweet lingers on the air.

To visit the garden is to experience a retreat from the sounds of the surrounding urban neighborhood, in a reflective atmosphere of enthralling sensory and seasonal pleasures year-round.

An example of the garden’s decorative windows: