Overview

Suzhou, a city near Shanghai, is widely known for having gorgeous gardens, which exemplify incredibly ingenious ways of green landscaping, time-tested and timeless. Whether you are going to Suzhou in the near future or not, captivating color photos of classical gardens in this book will take your breath away. Better yet, this book will help you understand their enigmatic beauty. This is an informative and intriguing book about all the most fascinating features of Suzhou-style gardens, such as winding ponds, dainty footbridges, porous rockeries, white walls with dark gray tile roofs, carved windows, moon gates, painting-like ground patterns, etc. It points out how each of them originated and why they impress eminent architects and ordinary people alike. Equally notable is the book's detailed information on most of the lovely plants that flourish in a typical garden of Suzhou, as well as the aesthetic and/or auspicious purposes they serve. In addition, this book profiles nine of Suzhou's classical gardens, which have been collectively inscribed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization as a World Heritage Site. It presents their best characteristics and tells their compelling stories. While reading this book, you may get inspired to create a Suzhou corner in your own garden. Traditional elements of Suzhou-style gardens can definitely be modernized. World famous architect I. M. Pei (1917-2019) set an excellent example of incorporating them into the modern-looking Suzhou Museum. With or without your own garden in mind, you are bound to enjoy an imaginary tour of glorious gardens through this unprecedented book!

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Reviews

""Step into the timeless elegance of Suzhou-style gardens, where nature and artistry converge in perfect harmony. Insights into Suzhou Gardens unveils the fundamental principles that define these classical Chinese landscapes-celebrating symmetry, balance, and the art of framed views. Through vivid descriptions and thoughtful analysis, this book explores how pathways, pavilions, and water features are meticulously arranged to create living paintings, inviting reflection and tranquility. Discover how rock formations mimic distant mountains, while windows and moon gates transform everyday vistas into framed masterpieces. Whether you're an architect, garden designer, or admirer of traditional aesthetics, this book offers a deeper understanding of how Suzhou gardens inspire beauty, balance, and serenity-one view at a time."" --- Nick Price Los Angeles Director of Baran Studio Architecture

Author Information

Crystal Tai, also known as Crystal Spring Tai or by her Chinese name (盧琪綺), earned a Master's degree in Education Policy with coursework in Journalism from Stanford University in 2007. Since then, she has worked as a local news reporter, a communications specialist in the high tech sector, a medical interpreter, and a YouTuber (via Crystal Blue Sky). With exceptional creativity, Crystal has authored a few books that introduce traditonal Chinese culture to Westerners. Among them, A Poetic Portal to Chinese Culture has brought her a certificate of commendation from California's Santa Clara County government for contribution to cultural diversity. Insights into Suzhou Gardens unprecedentedly analyzes all the fascinating features Suzhou-style gardens have in common. Yangzhou portrays a scenic waterfront city with more than 2,500 years of history and superb local cuisine. Chinese Couplets is the first-ever book that presents Chinese couplets in English as an art form. Seasonal Living with Splendid Poetry is the first bilingual book that explains how the 24 micro-seasons defined by ancient Chinese astronomers can promote environmental awareness and bring health benefits today. Crystal has creatively succeeded in fiction as well. Her historical novel, Marco Polo in Love, has been recommended by the Indie Author Project to public libraries all over California. Equally notable are the books Crystal has translated. They include Beijing: A Symmetrical City, which won two book awards in the US in 2020, Nine Memorable Decades, which is her own maternal grandfather's memoir book, now in the collections of the Hoover Institution, and Chinese Oracle Bone Script, a dictionary that translates China's oldest vocabulary into English.

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