Lingering Garden

Introducing Lingering Garden
Located outside the Changmen Gate of Suzhou, a tourist city in east China’s Jiangsu Province, the Lingering Garden is one of the four most famed gardens in China. Covering an area of 23,300 square meters, the stunning garden was originally built in 1593 by Xu Taishi, a Ming official, to serve as his private residence. In 1997, the garden, together with the other classic gardens in Suzhou, was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Lingering Garden Fast Facts
• Chinese Name: Liuyuan 留园
• Best Time to Visit: April to October
• Recommended Visiting Hours: About 1 to 2 hours
• Things to Do: Photography, Architecture, History and Culture
• Opening Hours: 07:30-17:00
• Entrance Fee: ¥55 (Apr. May. July. Aug. Sep. Oct.); ¥45 (Jan. Feb. Mar. June. Nov. Dec.)
• Address: No.338 Liuyuan Road, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province

What to expect at Lingering Garden

Lingering Garden, resembling a long scroll of traditional Chinese painting, is noted for its exquisite layout of various elements including halls, ancestral temples, private gardens, rockeries, covered walks, walls, ponds and plants. Lingering Garden is divided into the central, eastern, northern and western parts, with each part focusing on a different theme. The central part, known as the oldest and most important part of the garden, features marvelous lakeside scenes with a fabulous artificial mountain; the eastern part showcases elegant buildings and garden courts; the western part displays enthralling forested hills and rockeries; and the northern part boasts an idyllic pastoral scenery with cute cottages enclosed by bamboo fences.

The number of stelae in the Lingering Garden tops in the gardens of Suzhou. Superbly inscribed with the works of more than a hundred calligraphers in the Jin,Tang,Song,Yuan,Ming ,and Qing Dynasties, these invaluable stelae bring to light the evolutionary course of Chinese calligraphy in the past 1,000 years.

The whole garden consists of 42 rooms and halls, a 680-meter-long corridor, 200 lattice-windows of different kinds, 44 parallel couplets and stone carvings, 379 stelae, and 17 valuable old trees of 8 catalogues including gingkoes, southern wisteria, etc. 

How to get to Lingering Garden

By Metro
• Take Metro Line 2 and get off at Shilu Station (Exit 1).

By Bus
• Take bus No. 85, 317, 933 or Tourist Line 1 and get off at Liuyuan Station.
• Take bus No. 5, 7, 34, 36, 44, 64, 70, 85, 161, 304, 315, 317, 318, 406, 415, 522, 800, 921 or Tourist Line 5, and get off at Liuyuanlu Station.

Additional travel advice on Lingering Garden
• Please book the entrance ticket via Suzhou Tourism Official Account on WeChat or official website (https://www.szylly.com) with your passport details.
• Keep your passport on you to claim the ticket.