Mudu Village
.jpg)
The ancient Village of Mudu is located southwest of Suzhou City. It is one of China’s famous water towns. It has as many canals as streets in the town, which adds to its already picturesque charm. The village occupies an area of 34.5 square kilometers and has a history of more than 2,500 years. The village has a simple and peaceful atmosphere which.
The village got its name from a story about one of China’s ancient four famous beautifies. The King of Wu was in love with the beauty named Xishi. He orederd a palace built for her. A large quantity of wood was needed to built the palace and the wood ended up creating a huge log jam which blocked all river traffic. The word ‘Mudu’ means log jam in Chinese.
Mudu has several ancient Chinese gardens. The most famous is Yanjie Garden. It was the home of a famous scholar during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It occupies an area of 16 mu and the architecture of its pavilions and halls are exceptional. The garden is home to several ancient magnolia trees which, according to legend, were planted by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty.
Located just to the east of the Yanjie Garden is the Hongyinshanfeng Garden. The current garden was built in the Qing Dynasty from two smaller Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) gardens. Unlike other gardens in the Suzhou area, this garden combines the characteristics of a traditional Suzhou garden, with imperial gardens in the north of China. Every time the Emperor Qianlong visited Suzhou he always stopped at this garden to listen to Opera. There are many relics of his visits still in the garden.
The Bangyan Mansion, another ancient garden in Mudu Village, is unique in its design, and in particular, its rockeries. Many of the rocks in the garden are covered with carvings. One, in particular, has a carving showing scenes of ancient Suzhou’s prosperity, including fairs, busy streets, and people. In the back of the garden there is a lake surrounded with pavilions, corridors, and artificial hills.
