Good morning guys and every folks ，it is my great honour to be your guide 。 First i wish to extend my warmest welcome to you and i hope you will enjoy today s trip 。 Now let me introduce myself 。 My name is wuyingfang 。 I come from China International travel service 。 If you have any problem just tell me 。 I will try my best to help you and achieve your satisfaction with a wonderful trip memory 。 By the way ，please pay attention to your safety when traveling 。 I hope everything goes well and all of us will have a good time 。
The place we are going to visit today is the land of fish and rice Suzhou 。 To speak of Suzhou， people are likely to mention the old saying” Up above there is paradise， down here， here are Suzhou and Hangzhou”。 Gardening in Suzhou reached its height during the Ming and Qing dynasties。 There were over 280 private gardens in Suzhou and landscape became an art with established masters。 The mild climate， along with 230 frost_free days and around 43 inches of rain is perfect for gardening endeavors。 69 gardens in and around Suzhou are still in good condition。 In 2007，the UNESCO added four of the private gardens of Suzhou to the world heritage list， extending this in 2000 to include the
historic section of the city and five other gardens in the area。
Among so many gardens， the Humble Administrators garden is the most outstanding and the largest garden in Suzhou。 And it is the most important part of our todays tour。 It is centered upon the broad expanse of a lake， making up about one fifth of the total area， with well spaced buildings。 The garden landscape and water scape are simple， extensive and natural， possessing the traditional appearances of the Ming and Qing dynasties。
It is divided into three parts： the eastern， middle of the western parts， the house lies in the south of the garden。
The middle part is the cream of the garden with marvelous mountains， clear water， exquisite buildings and exuberant trees of the scenery in the south of the lower Yangtze。 Lying here and there to the south of the lake are the east and west hills made from a mixture of earth and rocks， and covered with trees。 The Prunus Mume Pavilion and the Orange Pavilion stand on a top of the hills。 By the side of the lake there are forsythias gently stroking the surface of the water， and bringing about delightful effects of nature。
The building in the western part of the garden are properly arranged by the lake。 The northern half is named ："the hall of 36 pairs of mandarin ducks" and the southern half：" the hall of 18 camellias"
lying to the south of the garden is the house， which is the typical residence in Suzhou。 On a north—south axis there are four successive buildings。 To the east of the axis are the MandarinDuck'shall with flower—basket decoration， the flower hall and the four—sided viewing hall。
The Humble administrator's garden boasts altogether 48 different bulidings，101 parallel couplets，and door plateaux，40 stelae，21 precious old trees，and over 700 bonsai kept in the bonsai garden in the western part of the garden，representing the Suzhou style bonsai，one of the four leading bonsai styles in China。
Well ，ladies and gentlemen ，it’s time for your freelance 。 You can take photos with abandon 。 We will gather here one hour later 。 Pay attention to your safety and don’t forget the time ！
Ladies， gentlemen，
Welcome to the" land of fish and rice" — — Suzhou。Suzhou ，one of the Chinese'"Cities of gardens"tops all others in both number and artistry of gardens。Starting from Pijiang Garden of the Eastern Jin Dynasty，Suzhou's art of gardening has undergone a history of1500 years。The concept of Suzhou classical gardens has gone beyond the city the regions of the Yangtze。 The four classical gardens of Suzhou are The Surging Waves Pavilion。The Lion Grove Garden Garden 。The Humble Administrator'Garden。The Lingering Garden。In a nutshell ，represent the different architectural styles of Song。Yuan。Ming。Qing dynasties。
My friends， now we are in The Lingering Garden。 It is located in Liuyuan Road， Suzhou City。 It was built by Xutaishi in Ming Dynasty。 At that time it was named Eastern Garden。
There are three treasures in The Lingering Garden。 The first treasure are Stones。The stone in front of us is the most distinguishing stone "Guangyun Peak"。 With a weight of 5 tons and a height of 6。5 meters， it is one of the four Wonderful Stones in the regions of the Yangtze。
The calligrapher and painter Mifu in Song Dynasty sum up the features of Lake Tai stones as the following： slender ，wrinkling ， leaking ， penetrating。 Just take the "guangyun Peak" as an example and you will have some idea about the features of the stones。 In addition， it is endowed with the personal characters of faithfulness because of its nature of stiffness and unchangeable outlook。 Thus it has been worshipped by people since old time。
The second treasure is "Five peak fairy Hall" "Five peaks fairy hall" gets the reputation of "The first hall in the regions of Yangtze" 。 The name comes from the lines of the great poet Libai。 The four Chinese characters on the plaque were written by Wuda———the famous calligrapher。 Nanmu Hall used to be the place for important banquets and ceremonies， such as birthday parties， weddings ， funerals 。
The hall is divided into two sections__the south section and the north section。 The south section host male guests， while the south section host female guests。
The hall is elegantly designed with oversized windows on east and west sides 。 Through the windows， the outside sceneries of the two courtyards can be extended as parts of the hall， thus to ensure enough lights into the building。
Five peaks fairy hall was built out of luxury materials。 Beams and pillars are all Nanmu， which is a kind of timber only produced in China。 That is also the reason why "five peaks fairy hall" is also commonly called "Nanmu Hall"。 The "Fossil Fish" we are enjoying is the third treasure of Lingering Garden。 It is a natural marble picture。 In the middle of the picture are the clutters
of mountains which are Partly hidden and partly visible； below are flowing Streams，above are floating clouds； right on the middle top is a round white spot like a sun or a moon。It is a picture drawn by the nature。 The marble stone has a diameter of 1 meter or so and a thickness of 15 mms 。 It was produced in Diancang Mountain， YunNan province。 It is a wonder how such big a stone was delivered in a good condition from YunNan which is over one thousand mile away from Suzhou。
China is most famous for its elegant classical gardens。
Among these， the lingering Garden is one representative。 If you would like to know more about Chinese culture， we welcome you to visit Suzhou again。