Chinese Garden in Santiago reopens to public after restoration

SANTIAGO – The Chinese Garden in Santiago, capital of Chile, has reopened to public after restoration by the collaboration of Chilean and Chinese institutions.

The Chinese Garden, first in Chile and whole South America, is located in the southeast part of Santiago’s O’Higgins Park.

The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and the more intimate gardens created by scholars, poets, former government officials, soldiers and merchants, made for reflection and escape from the outside world.

A typical Chinese garden is enclosed by walls and includes one or more ponds, rock works, trees and flowers, and an assortment of halls and pavilions within the garden, connected by winding paths and zig-zag galleries.

By moving from structure to structure, visitors can view a series of carefully composed scenes, unrolling like a scroll of landscape paintings.

Photo courtesy: Xinhua