Three Friends of Winter
Pine, bamboo and winter plum — the garden's whole theme.
Roland zh, upload on 13. September 2009 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roland zh — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roland zh — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roland zh — CC BY-SA 3.0
No, and that is an honest verdict: it is small, half an hour exhausts it, and anyone who has seen gardens in China itself will find it modest. But it is **free** and it sits exactly on the finest walk in Zurich — the right shore from the Blatterwiese to Zürichhorn — so visit it as part of that walk rather than as a destination. Spring and autumn are its best seasons; at the height of summer it is sunny with little shade.
Yes, daily all year, but with shorter hours (until five rather than seven). Its winter value is limited all the same: the planting is bare, the pond can freeze, and the garden is designed to be seen in leaf and blossom. If you are visiting in December or January, do not set aside time for it — just pass through if you are already walking the shore. **Check the hours before going**, as they change between seasons.
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A traditional Chinese garden on the right shore of Lake Zurich in the Seefeld quarter, given by the Chinese city of **Kunming** — Zurich's twin — in thanks: Zurich had provided technical and scientific help in planning Kunming's drinking water and drainage. Craftsmen and garden specialists came from Kunming and built it between May and October 1993, and it was formally opened in spring **1994** with the mayors of both cities present. The city parks department runs it today. Its theme is the **"Three Friends of Winter"**: pine, bamboo and winter plum — three plants that endure the cold, and an old Chinese emblem of constancy and of friendship under strain. Around them lie a pond with a small island, strongly coloured timber pavilions, and winding paths built to slow your step and reveal the scene piece by piece, following the temple-garden tradition and the taste of Yunnan province. Keep your expectations honest: it is small, half an hour covers it, and the city rather than a mountain surrounds it. But **entry is free** and it is genuinely lovely in spring and autumn, and its real value is that it sits on the best walk in Zurich — the right lakeshore at Zürichhorn — with the Blatterwiese meadow, the Pavillon Le Corbusier and the "Heureka" sculpture a few minutes away.
Pine, bamboo and winter plum — the garden's whole theme.
Coloured timber, a small island and winding paths.
Steps from the Blatterwiese and the Pavillon Le Corbusier.
Bellerivestrasse 138, 8008 Zurich