Located close to many of the downtown Singapore hotels is the Chinese Garden. This garden has been open to the public since 1975, and along with the plants, and the beautiful array of colors, there are many monuments and works of architectural and sculptural art, a common thread in traditional gardens of China. From the archways to the fish ponds, to the tea house this garden is meant to provide solace and serenity from the chaos of city life, and is a great way to experience the culture of Singapore that has been so influenced by her Chinese immigrants. While walking through the garden one may learn a bit of the history of the eras of the Chinese civilization, just by simply crossing the bridges, as the design for each one was taken from those different eras. Or perhaps one may learn the art of trimming the Bonsai tree, as the gardens have a section dedicated to just those trees, of which contains more than one thousand of the little trees, and offer classes in that art, taught by experts in the field and the practice.
There is the Pagoda, artistry at work in architecture, and the Garden of Abundance. In this area grows a pomegranate tree, more the one hundred years old that was originally imported from the city of Shantung in China. And of course, a sculpture garden is located here as well, of the twelve signs in the Chinese zodiac calender. According to the tradition of gardening in China, to plant seeds and to care for the plants that grew connects to the ideas of abundance, fulfilment and longevity of life. And as the earth is tended, so the sky is watched. In 2003, an observatory was built in the garden upon request of Au Man Choo. He is an architect, who has a passion for the scientific nature of astronomy and wanted to expose the citizens of Singapore to that passion. His outlook is not only concerned with educational purposes, but of the therapeutic value one gains from simply looking at the stars and the planets of this night sky. In all, the Chinese Garden in Singapore is a wonderful place, for the mind and for the body.
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