Changzhou Near Garden is a traditional garden building, built during the Chien-lung period of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in Changzhou Hotel in Changsheng Lane, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Among the buildings in the Jiangnan area, it is the most style of the early Qing and the late Ming Dynasties.
The Near Garden is 80 meters long from north to south and 64 meters wide from east to west. Although it only has a few acres of land, the architectural design is novel and clever, like a painting. Rockery and trails lined with flowers are delicate and charming. It is more like a small bonsai that attracts attention, which condense the essence of garden architecture in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
The rockery, lakes, flowers, trees and pavilions in Changzhou Near Garden are delicate and elegant. People in the garden can feel a kind of artistic conception everywhere, “it is also meaning in a quiet life”. Next, it can be seen that the landscape pattern of the garden is outstanding and distinguished. The pavilions and other buildings of The Near Garden are mostly surrounded by mountains and water. The design attaches great importance to the appropriate proportions, making the layout ingenious and harmonious.
The “Xiye Thatched Cottage” on the north side of Garden, built by the water, is where the host treated friends and guests. There are “Tianxiang Pavilion”, “Cosy Nest” and “Deyue Pavilion” in the southwest. To the north, there is the “Qiushui Pavilion”, and all the way down is “Xuzhou (Pavilion shaped like a boat”, “Rongxi House”. Walking on the curved path, the environment is quiet and comfortable. The beautiful visual enjoyment of the landscape makes people feel a natural mood. There are 30 stones with celebrity inscriptions embedded in the east corridor wall, which shows a unique cultural connotation.
The Near Garden is now listed in National Priority Cultural Relic Protection Sites, and it is also a Class 4A Tourist Attractions in China.
