As part of my adventures, I like grand national parks, horizon-filling national monuments, and beautiful open spaces of all kinds. These places highlight nature in all of its wide-open magnificence. Yet, I also love the smaller scale, more detailed, intimate gardens I visit. In that sense, the Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver, Canada, surprised me despite its location in the center of a busy city.
Overall, the striking symbolism of the design caught my attention. The varied landscape – metaphors of rock, water, and plants for mountains, seas, and forests – were expertly done, as no two vistas were the same as I circled the zig-zagging path over and over again. The buildings were gorgeous. (Note: This garden-home was modeled on traditional enclosed gardens built by Chinese emperors since the Shang dynasty [1600 -1046 B.C.]) The elements of tranquility, harmony, and nature were found in this small garden and architecture. My mind was transported to a time and place in China where scholars lived and studied.
The captioned video below will explain some of the details. Go visit!