When it comes to building gardens, I'm afraid no other country in world can compete with China. From "Garden of Shanglin" of Han Dynasty and "Gen Yue" of Song Dynasty. The surviving Summer Palace in Beijing took 15 years to build, while the Old Summer Palace took 150 years to complete and was still unfinished when it was destroyed.
Image: Suzhou Famous Garden - Humble Administrator's Garden
The Chinese associate their inner ideals of seclusion with landscapes in gardens. Many homestay homes are now squarely designed in standard garden styles.
The bigger garden, more labor and material costs go into building it, so what is experience of living in a garden-style homestay? Let's experience it for ourselves.
1. Yanglizhan Xiaosui
This Huizhou style bed and breakfast is an elegant and simple building located on peaceful Baima River, close to natural attractions of wetlands, and enjoys a prime natural location.
The design of the room is simple, using rattan and bamboo wicker wood over a large area, creating a rustic and original natural style.
The interior layout is in the continuous spacing technique commonly used in Chinese gardens, conveying proper poetic beauty.
Combination of classics and modernity, elegance, restraint, conciseness and simplicity.
2. Private Gardens in Chuansha District in Shanghai
The homestay is located in Chuansha Business District of Shanghai Pudong New Area, next to Disneyland. This is a Jiangnan garden style B&B with 20 mu grounds.
In center of garden there is a very beautiful artificial lake along which a restaurant, guest rooms and pavilions are built.
The promenade view of lake and elegant courtyard, combined with white walls and black tiles, cornices and curtain walls throughout, demonstrate unique sophistication of Jiangnan Gardens. Walking among them, you can not only admire scenery, but also visit garden.
The buildings in courtyard are a replica of old garden buildings in Suzhou, made of blue bricks and gray tiles, quiet and cozy.
More than ten different types of rooms have their own characteristics, strolling through garden and enjoying view of lake is a pleasure.
3. Yeyuan Suzhou
It took ten years to build 12-acre B&B here, and owner put a lot of effort into every stone, flower, and tree.
Once you enter courtyard gate, cornices are up, blue bricks and black tiles, and windows in small courtyard, you can see scene at every turn. The round moon hole, flower window, bamboo, tree and flower are elegantly embedded in window, and with change of seasons, it presents different postures from season to season, showing elegance.
How big is garden? When lights are turned on, aerial photograph captures an ink painting of a deep house complex with carved beams and painted buildings, endless. Gives people illusion of dreaming of ancient times.
The garden has 3 independent courtyards with privacy. To love lotus and listen to rain is naturally poetic and picturesque.
Open window and you will see ancient cornices with white walls and gray tiles.
"Love mountains and rivers, feel nature" is a constant aspiration in hearts of Chinese. In a place with a beautiful landscape, a courtyard is visible from window. Why don't you like this homestay option?