Constructed by the prominent Nortern Song poet Su Sunqin, the Canglang Pavilion is the oldest among all the existing classical gardens of Suzhou. Repaired several times in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it features a range of man-made mountains covered withe towering old trees and bamboo, and adorned with simple, plain buildings and latticed windows of great excellence inside the garden, and the broad expanse of crystalline water outside. At the top of the mountain stands the Canglang Pavilion, reconstructed in the reign of Kangxi, with a famous Chinese parallel couplet on the stone pillars, reading, “The refreshing breeze and the bright moon are priceless. The near water and distant hills strike a sentimental note.” Compared with other classical gardens of Suzhou, the Canglang Pavilion has no equal in terms of “urban scenery”. On November, 2000, it was inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO. |