Deshi’s Beautiful Chinese Garden

I’ve always thought gardens were so romantic, with the meandering pathways, the benches and the beauty.

In my book, Hong Kong Treasure (coming out this September), Deshi has a beautiful Chinese garden. In this post I thought it’d be fun to describe his garden.

There are four elements of the traditional Chinese garden: water, architecture, rocks and flowers & trees.

Deshi’s garden is surrounded by the walls of his house, painted white to enhance the colors of the flowers and trees. As the center focal point, a small pond teams with orange & white koi and lotus flowers. Water represents lightness and communication and since it reflects the sky it is always changing.

 

 

Arching gracefully over this pond is a red, lacquered bridge (for more about romantic bridges, see earlier post: Can a Bridge Be Romantic?).  The red, symbolizing luck, gives contrast whether against the summer flora or winter starkness.

 

Following the stone pathway beside a gentle stream tripping over rocks, leads you to an open, red pavilion in the back corner of the garden. Here you could rest on the benches to savor all the surrounding beauty and pause to enjoy the chirping of birds and the heady aroma of the garden.

 

After the pavilion, rounding back toward the house, you come upon a bamboo patch circling a rock garden in the Yin-Yang design. The bamboo, represents a wise man and is noted for being flexible in a storm without breaking. It also provides sounds to the garden when a gentle wind blows.

 

 

Deshi’s garden has plenty of the fourth element of traditional Chinese gardens – flowers and trees, which contrast with the straight lines of the architecture.

For the winter season, you will find the “Three Friends of Winter” (pine, bamboo and Chinese plum) which remain green and bloom in winter. This makes his garden a joy all year round.

The rest of the year sees plenty of peach and apricot trees, lotus, peony and orchid plants. The peach tree symbolizes longevity and immortality while the apricot tree symbolizes the way of the Mandarin. The lotus flower is admired for its purity and the way it reaches out of the water to bloom in the air represents the search for knowledge.

 

I hope you have enjoyed our journey through Deshi Han’s Hong Kong garden.

 

Do you have a garden at home? What is your favorite part of your garden or any garden you have visited?

 

 

Hong Kong Treasure – A devastating Philippines typhoon stole Annie’s memory. Now, can a handsome Chinese stranger save her from the danger she has forgotten?

Coming this September!