Suzhou's lesser-known garden - Chai Garden, free and with air conditioning!

Chai Garden is located at No. 44, Cukulane, and is a Suzhou garden that is open to the public for free. Originally the private garden of Pan Zengqi during the Daoguang era of the Qing dynasty, it was known as 'Qian Garden'. During the Guangxu era, it was purchased and expanded by Chai Anpu from Shangyu, Zhejiang, and renamed 'Chai Garden'. From 1962 to 2012, the Suzhou School for the Blind and Deaf was located here. After the school relocated, Chai Garden was transformed into the Suzhou Education Museum, which officially opened in 2017. Chai Garden is like a fine piece of double-sided embroidery, one side depicting the elegance of the garden, the other side depicting the interest of the museum. Chai Garden is a typical private garden with a layout of east residence and west garden, featuring multiple buildings such as the Mandarin Duck Hall, Nanmu Hall, boat houses, and waterside pavilions. In the western part of the garden, centered around a pond, boat houses and waterside pavilions face each other across the water, with halls, pavilions, and galleries winding their way through, and lake rocks piled up in a staggered and winding fashion, making it a rare place of leisure in the bustling city area. Chai Garden is also the Suzhou Education Museum, consisting of the Preface Hall, Celebrity Hall, Ancient Hall, Modern Hall, Contemporary Hall, Academician Hall, Famous Teacher Hall, Hall of Honor, Audio-Visual Hall, Special Exhibition Hall, and the International Chinese Language Promotion Activity Center, divided into four main parts: Millennium Inheritance, Century Enlightenment, Era Chapter, and Apricot Altar Brilliance. 📍Address: No. 44, Cukulane, Gusu District 🎫Ticket: Free 🕗Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 9:00-16:30, closed on Mondays (except national statutory holidays) 🍃Special Highlights🍃 1️⃣ Relatively lesser-known, located in a small alley, with fewer visitors, and pleasant pure music playing in the garden. 2️⃣ Air conditioning is turned on in the museum buildings, making the visit comfortable and cool. 3️⃣ The mirrors in the half pavilion are very clean, like a window, reflecting the greenery of the garden, a scene full of greenery🍃 4️⃣ Standing on the small bridge and looking at the boat houses and waterside pavilions on both sides, reading the line 'Can wash my tassel' and then looking at the koi in the pond, one can't help but think of the phrase 'The clear waters of the Canglang are so pure, I can wash my tassel in them.' 5️⃣ The flower windows of Chai Garden are very beautiful, especially the green plants (banana plants, bamboo) behind the windows, which add a touch of Chinese aesthetics to the flower windows✨. 🕹About Stamping (color-overlay stamp + 9 museum stamps all free): 🔸Color-overlay stamp (limited to 3 per person), with a locator which is very considerate. It is recommended to use A6 card paper, insert it and stamp, so it won't be misaligned and will be neat. 🔸Additionally, there are 4 stamps of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting + 3 stamps of children playing folk games + 1 Chai Garden stamp + 1 Suzhou Education Museum stamp. For those who love gardens and stamping, don't miss this treasure of a garden!