East garden
Yellow-stone rockery.
xiquinhosilva — CC BY 2.0 · Jakub Hałun — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 钉钉 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lamassu Design Gurdjieff (talk) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · xiquinhosilva — CC BY 2.0 · Original uploader was MYSHEROS at zh.wikipedia — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lamassu Design Gurdjieff (talk) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Zhangzhugang — CC BY-SA 4.0
A classical garden deep in the old Pingjiang quarter, ringed by canals on three sides; an official first laid it out in the Yongzheng reign (1723–1735) as the Sheyuan, and in the 19th century Shen Bingcheng, an official who had left office, enlarged it and settled there with his wife, a poet, naming it Ouyuan, «ou» meaning a pair or couple. It is part of the Classical Gardens of Suzhou World Heritage Site. The family house stands in the middle with a garden on each side, facing each other like a couple, a layout rare among Suzhou's gardens: the eastern one, the larger, centres on a rockery of yellow stone and a pond ringed by pavilions and galleries, and the smaller western one is grouped around a rock grotto and a library. It can be reached by boat from the canal. Tickets are CNY 25 in April, May and July to October and CNY 20 in the other months, and it is open from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm, last entry 5 pm, per visitor guides. It is usually calmer than the big gardens.
Yellow-stone rockery.
On three sides.
Between the gardens.
Pingjiang old quarter, Gusu District, Suzhou
Pingjiang RoadOld Suzhou's loveliest street, running about 1,606 m along the Pingjiang canal t7 minutes walk4.4
Lion Grove GardenA famous classical garden in old Suzhou, built in 1342 under the Yuan by a Buddh13 minutes walk4.4
Humble Administrator's GardenSuzhou's largest and best-known garden, considered by many the finest in souther16 minutes walk4.3
Suzhou MuseumOne of the world's most visited museums, with more than two million visitors in 16 minutes walk4.3Because «ou» means a pair: the garden has two matching halves on either side of the house, and its owner lived there with his wife, a poet.