On Thursday, the rain broke just long enough to allow G and I to stroll through the Chinese Garden.
Like Wildlife World and the Aquarium, the Chinese Garden of Friendship is located right in Darling Harbor. You might be in the middle of the city, but it feels worlds away. It was built in celebration of Australia's Bicentenary in 1988, through cooperation with Sydney's sister city Guangzhou, China.
The garden was designed with Yin-Yang principles and is supposed create a sense of harmony by balancing five elements -- earth, fire, water, wood, and air. I didn't go around trying to pick it all apart, but it's definitely beautiful and I did feel very serene.
Admission to the garden is pretty reasonable at $6, but for $11 they'll include tea time in their Teahouse. We opted for the Chinese Dim Sum tea (you can also have English tea) and we chose a table right next to the pond. Honestly, these are not best Siu Mai you'll ever have, but to me it was worth the few extra bucks to sit and watch coy swimming by with a pot of tea and a snack.
The garden is divided into many different sections with various pavilions, waterfalls, bridges, and statues. Of course, every piece is chosen very deliberately and everything is full symbolism. And if you don't feel like going around reading every plaque the way I do, it's all just really pretty.
There are interesting rock formations everywhere, a lot of which are meant to represent animals or are arranged together to tell stories. I particularly liked the rock forest that tells the story of a Ashima, a beautiful girl who is stolen away to marry her landlord's son. Her love, Ahei, comes to rescue her, but before they are able to go away and live happily ever after, she is washed away by a flood and is turned into a rock.
It's a small oasis and very easy to see in considerable detail within a couple hours; although I think we would of happily gone on wandering around and taking pictures all day. Closing time and the rain forced us out, but it was a really beautiful way to spend an afternoon.
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