Cultural site · JIANGSU · UNESCO
Master of Nets Garden
网师园 · Wǎngshī Yuán
About
The most concentrated of Suzhou's UNESCO-listed gardens (0.6 hectares). Summer evening 'night garden' performances are the local draw.
Master of Nets is the smallest of the four most-celebrated Suzhou gardens but the most concentrated — every metre of the 0.6 hectares is composed. Originally laid out in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 18th, it has been the model for several reproductions abroad (most notably the Astor Court at the Metropolitan Museum, New York). The summer evening 'Night Garden' programme stages traditional Kunqu opera, pipa music and tea ceremony in the courtyards.
How to get there
Walking from Pingjiang Road / metro Line 4 Sanyuanfang.
When to visit
Summer evening for the Night Garden.
Gallery
Other attractions in Suzhou
Itineraries featuring this site
- Classical Gardens Circuit — Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Beyond, 12 days
12d · China's finest classical gardens in sequence: Suzhou's UNESCO garden quartet, Hangzhou's West Lake landscape, Yangzhou's slender garden tradition, and Shaoxing's canal-town context.
- Off the beaten path — two weeks (Pingyao, Datong, Hongcun)
14d · Walled towns, cliff temples, southern villages — China away from the tour-bus routes.
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