Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden marks 40 years as Vancouver's first classical Chinese garden

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, one of Vancouver's top cultural attractions, is marking 40 years since its opening in 1986—a milestone rooted in urban history and international cultural exchange.

In the 1960s, Vancouver planners proposed putting a freeway ramp down Carrall Street, the historic heart of Chinatown and Gastown. After years of protest, the freeway plans were defeated. The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden was erected where the off-ramp was supposed to go.

Named after the revolutionary who helped found the Republic of China in 1911, the garden was the first classical Chinese garden built outside China. It is constructed in the Suzhou style of the Ming Dynasty, a period that lasted from the 14th to 17th centuries. The Ming dynasty-style garden was the first of its kind built since the end of the historical period itself.

China sent a group of 52 craftsmen, artisans and masons from the Suzhou Garden Bureau to Vancouver to work with local architect Joe Wai on the design and construction. "Suzhou is known as a city of 100 gardens," explains Henry Heng Lu, the executive director of the garden. "The Suzhou gardens are so beautiful they're designated a UNESCO world heritage site."

Many Suzhou gardens were built as "scholar gardens" where a scholar "would live and work on their craft." The gardens were meticulously designed and built, with many features imported from China, including striking limestone rocks with unique shapes and holes. "Across the garden, you will see what we call scholars' rocks," Lu said. "They are all natural. They're harvested from the bottom of Taihu Lake, in the Suzhou/Shanghai area. Because of the waves, the water shapes these rocks naturally."

The popularity of Taihu Lake rocks has made them extremely rare. "These days you don't have them anymore because of all the rich people trying to get them and use them to build (private) gardens," Lu said.

The garden also features pebble mosaics in the courtyard spaces with a dizzying array of pebbles arranged inside shapes made from roof tiles. Many of the pebbles were also collected in China. The roof tiles were handmade in Suzhou and are now difficult to replace. "They don't make them anymore, they're all machine made (today)," Lu said. "In the next few years, we're going to replace these roof tiles, (but) we'll have to do a custom order to make sure that they're handmade to match them."

The garden's design reflects profound symbolism. "A Suzhou-style classical Chinese garden has a lot of symbolism," Lu explained. "You cannot just let's say, OK, let's plant a tree here and then here." Each tree and plant was set down in a specific, deliberate location.

The construction took place during 1985 and 1986, a pivotal moment in international relations. "What's interesting to note is that this was (done) during 1985 and 1986, when China opened up to the world," Lu said. "A garden like this was like a form of cultural export." China put "absolutely the best techniques and materials" into the garden's construction at that time.