An Insightful Visit to the Chinese Garden of Friendship

After breakfast one morning, I decided to head to the Chinese Garden of Friendship.  The location itself is quite interesting, as it is surrounded by a park, which is further surrounded by a high traffic area of criss-crossing roads.

As you approach the entrance, you are greeted with beautiful landscapes that are a preview of the grandeur that is inside.  The entrance fee of $6 (2019) also includes several guided tours that happen throughout the day.  I visited in the morning and was just in time for the 10:30 Highlights Tour. 

My guide was incredibly knowledgeable and was able to provide insight and detail throughout our 30-40 minute leisurely walk through the gardens.

We started off at the Water Pavilion where she pointed out the different types of plants that were intentionally placed there.  The female plants, such as lilies, lotuses, and willow trees were paired with male plants such as bamboo. 

There are many different obvious examples of ying and yang that are visible from the Grounds Pavilion.  The waterfalls and lake, the rough ground and the round pavilion, these are just a couple of the many examples of ying and yang found within the garden.

As we approached the Moon Gate, we were told that it was constructed to offer two different perspectives, depending on which side of the gate you stood.  The wavy lines surrounding the gate represent the clouds, and stepping through the gate, signified stepping through to heaven.

One of the most interesting plants in the garden is the Red Silk Cotton Tree, a plant that is native to Southern China.  The trees require both the female and male versions to be grown together, in order for the tree to flower.  The female is the pointy one and the male starts off pointy but eventually smooths out.  Our guide mentioned that it’s possible the male tree becomes female later in life, but no one is sure of this.

Before we reached the last part of the gardens, we stopped at the Rinsing Pavilion.  This is the place for you to sit and relax for a short break, signifying the need to revitalize before heading up the mountain.

The last part of the tour was at the top of the “mountain”, which offered a clear view of the entire garden. There was also a pavilion at the top, but our guide reviewed to it as a “gurr”.  The climb to the top of the mountain was very gradual and it wasn’t until I was at the top looking down that I realized we had actually climbed up all that way, as it was not difficult at all.

After the tour, I went and walked around the garden one more time on my own as I wanted to spend some more time looking deeper into some of the parts that we had sped through.  I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a leisurely walk through a beautiful surrounding.