Canglang Pavilion is not only the oldest existence of the four major gardens in Suzhou, but also the highest in the years of Suzhou gardens. In the fourth year of the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1044), Su Shunqin, the manager of Jixian College, was degraded, and the following year he bought land in Suzhou to build a garden, and named it Canglang Pavilion. The name of the garden is taken from the "Chu Ci" "The water of the waves is turbid, and you can wet my feet". The meaning of the phrase is that when the water is muddy, it can only be used to wash feet, and Su Shunqin alludes to the darkness of the imperial court and decides not to ask about the world. Su Shunqin called himself Canglang Weng, and became friends with Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, etc., and the fame of Canglang Pavilion gradually spread.

Although the Canglang Pavilion was built earlier, the basic pattern of the building has not been greatly changed. The main building of Canglang Pavilion has been destroyed in the 34th year of Kangxi (1695), and then moved to the top of the hillside, but it was destroyed again in the fire and rebuilt in the 11th year of Tongzhi (1872). The most recent large-scale destruction of the entire garden occurred during the Cultural Revolution, so the relics of the late Qing Dynasty and other sites are largely gone.

Today's Canglang Pavilion has been renovated by the government many times, and the landscape has been greatly improved. The garden covers an area of 10,800 square meters, which is not large in scale but has a unique design. As soon as visitors enter the gate, they can see the mountains and forests in the park, which is a very rare open-door design technique in Suzhou. Different from other gardens with large ponds, the small pond of Canglang Pavilion looks delicate and cute. However, Canglang Pavilion still achieves the balance of mountains and rivers through bold borrowing of scenery. On the northeast side of the courtyard is the Facing Water Pavilion and a row of verandahs, bordered by a pool of turquoise water. Canglang Pavilion borrows water as a wall, which not only conforms to the view of scenery penetration, but also effectively extends the landscape perception of the courtyard, and is ingeniously conceived. There are a total of 108 types of leaky windows in the courtyard, which are ingenious in the classical gardens of Suzhou, making it more possible for the scenery to penetrate.

The architecture in the park is relatively simple and there is not much to say, but it is also interesting to contrast with the green bamboos and pines.

Information Reference

Tickets: 20 RMB/person

Opening Hours:

07:30~17:30 (April 21 - October 20)

07:30-17:00 (October 21 - April 20)