Sias New Magical Chinese Garden - Scene 18

The View from the Patio

Windows, bridges, and pavilions provide different views of the landscape and are also objects to be admired for their own beauty. Intricately crafted lattice windows artfully frame objects and scenes. Bridges with hand-carved textures lead to small islands that present striking new images of architectural structures. Pavilions ornamented with botanical images open onto exquisite panoramas. Important to all of these structures are Chinese cultural motifs. For instance, carvings of bamboo, pine, and plum blossoms adorn the ceiling of the "Pavilion of the Three Friends" near a grove where those three plants grow. In Chinese literature and art, these have often represented fortitude, high principles, and resilience, respectively, in part because they all flourish in the cold season.