Author: Zhihang Du

As a volunteer for ARCH, I’ve been planning to write about Yuanming Garden, the ancient Garden in Beijing. How to describe this garden to people who have never been there?

With this question in mind, I approached Professor Elin Haaga, who is a landscape historian and designer and who taught at George Washington University for almost two decades. This Monday morning, she invited Sophia and me to her lovely house, where she gave us a mini lecture on eastern and western philosophies in gardening.

While we exchanged thoughts on Chinese gardens, I realized that Yuanming Garden fascinated me so deeply because great gardens are not just pleasant to the eyes, but involve all senses and a full body experience, the scent emanating from flowers, the coolness from creeks, the melodies from singing birds and the rustle of the trees. All the senses delicately combined will give the traveler the ultimate experience of a garden.

Thank you Professor Haaga and ARCH for such a great opportunity to learn about garden landscapes! I’m clearer about what to write about in the following months.

I will write five blog posts in total, the first one describes the first time I visited Yuanmingyuan with my parents. Each of the other blog posts will represent one of the four seasons. Stay tuned.