page_title: Chinese Garden, Zürich
section_title: Landscaping and buildings
hierarchical_section_title: Chinese Garden, Zürich / Landscaping and buildings
caption_attribution_description: Water palais in Chinagarten Zürich (Switzerland)
context_page_description: The Chinese Garden is a chinese garden in the Swiss city of Zürich. It is a gift from Zürich's Chinese partner town Kunming, dedicated to the Three Friends of Winter.
context_section_description: The garden covers an exactly rectangular terrain, surrounded by a low wall. Its central element is a pond with a small island.
  The surrounding wall separates the outer mundane world from art, an ideal microcosm in the garden inside – offers protection against unwanted visitors, too. The wall has on three sides windows, with barred bamboo and lotus flower tiles. Eaves and final bricks as well as the frieze bear small sculptural figures, representing the Chinese dragon of clouds. Wall corners and wall's top adorns the second of the nine dragon sons, Chiwen dragon.
  The main portal (entrance) is emblazoned with a calligraphy on a golden plate, meaning China Garden. Nine nail rows and the red color of the gate originally were reserved for the emperor. In China's Yunnan province, for 300 years they have been an essential architectural element of garden plants. The second door was originally named the second-last gate of the Imperial Court's inner rooms. The carved panels on both sides, are excerpts from Chinese tales. The artificial mountain represents the meaning of landscape – «Mountain und Water» – and is contrasting Yin and Yang. Rock formations are the bones in the body, focusing the garden. They also are sharing space and draw the viewer's gaze.
  A bridge is connecting the pavilion's island and the inner garden, reminding the island of immortals. The circular pavilion embodies the middle, and so the fifth cardinal direction in the culture of China. His inscriptions refer to the water as a symbol of friendship between the cities of Kunming and Zürich. The hectagon pavilion suggests lofty heights and snow drift in winter. His carvings are full of allegories: Phoenix as symbol of empress, and flowers as well as a symbol of female beauty. The pavilion's inside is showing symbols of good luck and landscapes. A square pavilion forms the entrance to the galleries and to the water palace. Its entrance shows two golden Phoenix'. A carved archway is devoted to the spring, a magpie and plum blossoms announce the newly waked life. Open galleries are adorned by more than 500 still lifes and landscapes. Its carved arche beams are a particular feature of the gardens of Yunnan. A short  winding path symbolizes abundance and harmony.
  The water palace is the heart of the Chinese garden. The painting of its exterior walls, doors and windows is deliberately kept simple, so that visitors are able to concentrate to the inner qualities of the building. Its terrace opens to the water surface, showing all important elements of the garden, its rear garden is called garden of shadows.
caption: Water palais
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