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Australia, Beijing Gardens, canberra, Chinese gardens, Chinese New Year, Lake Burley Griffin, Lennox Gardens, Lotus Bay, Yarralumla
Finding new places to visit in Canberra
I recently found out that Canberra has Chinese gardens…they were built in 2014 by a team of Chinese artisans who came from China.
I was looking for somewhere to go for Chinese New Year and read about these lovely gardens located near the Chinese Embassy and along the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.The gardens celebrate the sister city link between Canberra and Beijing and is designed in the imperial Chinese garden style of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). The garden’s main feature is a traditional Chinese welcome gate guarded by two stone lions.
Once you have taken in the lovely views through the welcome gate you walk down the handcrafted steps which were made by the Chinese stonemasons and past Chinese stone sculptures depicting the four celestial symbols in Chinese mythology.
Each of the four animals depicted on the stones represent the four cardinal points and the four seasons. The Black Tortoise (north/winter), the Azure Dragon (east/spring), the Scarlet Bird (south/summer) and the White Tiger (west/autumn). [oops just realised I only photographed three]
Next is a Chinese pavilion which offers a retreat from the sun and is clearly used by the local pigeons as they have left quite a lot of their droppings behind. The pavilion was built using marble and timber imported from China and using traditional building methods, such as interlocking joints ie no screws/nails.There are also lovely roof figures on the pavilion. These are statuettes placed along the ridge line of official buildings in particular in the Chinese empire. It is said that only official buildings (palaces, government buildings, and some temples) were permitted to use them but of course times have changed and I was able to buy some in Beijing whilst living there.
There is also a Stone of Appreciation which has been brought from Tai Lake near Shanghai. Limestone pieces such as these were often used as garden ornaments in the Tang Dynasty. Actually the Forbidden City has a large stone garden at the rear which is quite beautiful.
Then onwards toward Lotus Bay where there are lovely individual sculptures of cranes…
After seeing these lovely statues you walk towards the lake to a large replica statue of the Bronze Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow known in Chinese as Ma Ta Fei Yan马踏飞燕 and is regarded as a national treasure in China.
The original sculpture is from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) and was unearthed by local farmers in Wuwei Country, Gansu Province in 1969.
I read about the horse some years ago and in late 2014 I returned to China to see both the bronze statue at the Gansu Provincial Museum and the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park (Rainbow Mountains) – both were amazing.
The original statue is relatively small. It measures about 34 cm high and is 41 cm long. It’s posture is said to be unique and carefully balanced according to dynamics. The horse is raising its head, neighing and galloping forward and with one foot treading on a flying swallow. That swallow accentuates the power and speed of the galloping horse.

Original sculpture in Gansu Provincial Museum
Back to the gardens…whilst they are relatively small, they are really lovely and worth a visit especially as there are BBQ facilities for a nice BBQ lunch or dinner. In fact I am going there this weekend for a picnic with my Chinese language teacher. Located near the gardens are the Japanese Gardens which are also worth a visit [more on those later].
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How amazing, these gorgeous Chinese gardens right here in Aus. Fantastic. They look so lovely
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The gardens look beautiful and make you feel as if you are actually in Asia.
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What a lovely place to spend CNY 🙂 And now I have many questions to ask! First of all, are you back to studying Chinese?! If you are, I think it’s great that you use your time with such an intellectual activity! Next, is the Danxia site really worth the visit? I am tempted to consider this destination too, but as Gansu is quite a distance to reach from major costline cities in China, I’d need to think it over. And last but not least, the little statues that you bought in Beijing, were they originals from temples or official buildings??? Or do you mean you bought a repro? I am really curious about this last one! Great post overall Sue, interesting and very nice for the eyes too. Xxxx Have a great weekend, i’m sure you have nice things coming including this picnic!
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Reading about this garden and the buildings it reminds me on a story here in Germany. I dont recall now in which city(s) this happened but some very strange people have burned down pavilions in Chinese / Japanese gardens sponsored by the Chinese and by the Japanese embassy. I think it was two years ago and it was rather big news as those buildings were rather remarkable and were build by professionals from those countries
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Lovely! I love the Chinese garden design. So simple
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Thanks so much Lyn.
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Thanks so much M for taking the time to comment. Always appreciate it – very much.
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quite impressive, Sue! Thank you for the tour via your beautiful photos. 🙂
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Hiya Sophie. Thanks so much.
Well I tried to go back to language lessons with my previous teacher but she is so busy she can’t give me lessons. What a shame as I really liked her. Yes Danxia is definitely worth visiting. It was SO hot when I went there but so beautiful. My post below. And Gansu has so many other things to do. On another occasion I didn’t four days there.
The roof ornaments I bought were originals but from a huge outdoor store that makes them not from a temple or official building. The store sold many of them but I don’t think they cane from buildings hundreds of years ago.
https://tangmengxiu.wordpress.com/2015/06/23/zhangye-danxia-landform-goelogical-park-rainbow-mountains-gansu-provice-prc-september-2014/
https://tangmengxiu.wordpress.com/2015/07/01/four-days-in-gansu-province-prc-july-2013/
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Oh wow how interesting. I know there is a past but to ruin gardens is a real shame isn’t it.
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Thank you!!
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Hi Amy. Very kind. All the best to you.
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This is only 5 minutes from me and I’ve never been. You’ve inspired me to go this week.
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Ah great. Do enjoy and the Japanese Gardens next door.
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thanks for sharing the links ! I can see you wrote them just days before I started my own blog in 2015 😉 That’s why I never paid attention to them. nice to have some reading to do (at work!) on a Monday morning, haha!
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Impressive and original. The Rainbow Mountains beckon me. Someday……. sigh…..
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What an interesting place! I wonder if there are Australian Gardens in Beijing, haha.
Tai Lake is very close to Suzhou!
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Looks like a tranquil, lovely garden to have a walk!
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I really wonder what is wrong with such people. What do they get out of this?
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I loved them but boy it was a dreadfully hot day.
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It definitely was thanks Julia.
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Your photos of this beautiful area are so appreciated. Your description of the construction methods really contributed to an even deeper appreciation of the artistry and skill of those who built them.
Also found the comments so interesting and contributing to the photo/essay. Especially inspiring is SE May who only lived five minutes from the gardens and had never visited. I have a feeling this is a very common thing globally..people simply not pausing to visit their own back yards. I know I have been guilty of it in several areas I have lived in.
Always enjoy a good long visit with you SueT. Thank you.
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The rainbow mountains were on my list when we visited China. We couldn’t make it. 😦 Looks gorgeous in your picture.
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Thank you. They were stunning I must say. So hot there though.
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beautiful
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Thank you.
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