Canglang Pavilion~My favorite Suzhou-style garden~It is also the oldest existing garden in Suzhou

Canglang Pavilion is a World Cultural Heritage site, located at No. 3 Canglang Pavilion Street, Sanyuanfang, south of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. It is a classical Chinese garden architecture of the Han nationality that was first built during the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty. Originally a private garden of the literati Su Shunqin, it covers an area of 1.08 hectares and is the most ancient garden among the existing gardens in Suzhou. After Su Shunqin acquired the garden, he built the Canglang Pavilion by the water in 1045 and wrote 'Record of the Canglang Pavilion,' which made the garden's name well-known. In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty's Shaoxing period, the Canglang Pavilion was acquired by Han Shizhong, a famous general who resisted the Jin Dynasty, and was renamed 'Han Garden.' In the tenth year of the Xianfeng era (1860), the Canglang Pavilion was destroyed in a military fire. After the fire, Zhang Shusheng rebuilt the Canglang Pavilion with the help of Wu You. Located within Sanyuanfang in the south of Suzhou City, it is the oldest famous garden in Suzhou, built by the Song Dynasty poet Su Zimei. The art of garden-making at Canglang Pavilion is extraordinary. Before entering the garden, there is already a green water encircling and willows swaying in the wind. Leaning on the railing by the bank, the rugged rocks and winding covered corridors integrate the inside and outside of the garden through the windows. The garden is dominated by a mountain with ancient trees reaching the sky, and the famous Canglang Pavilion is hidden on the top of the mountain. The Mingdao Hall to the south is the largest building in the garden, with three Song Dynasty stone inscriptions hanging on the wall, which are the Astronomical Chart, Song Territory Map, and Song Pingjiang Map (Suzhou City Map); the Five Hundred Sages Shrine has more than five hundred stone reliefs of figures related to the history of Suzhou embedded within. In the southwest of the garden, there is an artificial mountain cave named Yinxin Stone House; on the mountain, there is a small building called Kanshan Tower, from which one can enjoy the scenery of Suzhou from afar.