古典园林与现代服务相融 拙政园绘就文旅融合新图景
2025年12月26日12:14，我与夫人朱元珍通过现场预约、刷脸入园的方式，踏入苏州拙政园的青石板路；13:48步出园门，短短94分钟的游览，不仅沉浸式感受了江南古典园林的冬日美学，更真切体会到现代服务体系为传统文旅场景注入的新活力。这座始建于明正德初年的园林，历经数百年岁月洗礼，如今以“传统造园艺术+现代智慧服务”的融合模式，成为中国文旅产业高质量发展的鲜活缩影。
作为中国四大名园之首、世界文化遗产，拙政园占地78亩，以水为中心，山水萦绕，厅榭精美，花木繁茂，尽显江南水乡的婉约意境。入园后沿水而行，首先抵达的秫香馆便尽显造园者的借景巧思。这座面水而建的馆舍，原名“稻花香馆”，取秋日稻浪飘香之意，其轩敞的落地窗将园外北寺塔的轮廓与园内的碧波假山尽收眼底，形成“塔影入园”的绝妙景致。冬日里凭栏而立，虽无稻花飘香，却能看寒水映塔，游船轻漾，光影在窗棂间流转，古典园林的空间美学在此展现得淋漓尽致。
前行数十步，天泉亭静静隐于假山古木之间。这是拙政园现存最古老的建筑之一，因亭下藏有元代开凿的“天泉井”而得名。亭为六角攒尖顶，青瓦覆霜，石栏斑驳，井口以青石围合，井水清冽依旧。冬日的阳光透过亭旁的古樟枝叶，在井台上投下细碎的光斑，指尖触碰冰凉的石栏，仿佛能触摸到元明时期的造园脉络。天泉亭虽小，却与周边的黄石假山、虬曲古木浑然一体，遵循“小中见大”的造园理念，成为园内一隅静谧的观景佳处。
行至园林中部，远香堂作为全园的核心主厅，瞬间抓住视线。这座单檐歇山顶的厅堂，面阔三间，楠木为柱，通透的落地长窗将内外景致连通。堂名取自周敦颐《爱莲说》中“香远益清，亭亭净植”，虽冬日无荷，堂前荷池却依旧波光粼粼，让人遥想夏日“接天莲叶无穷碧”的盛景。站在堂中环顾，东望绣绮亭，西接南轩，北临荷风四面亭，南眺小山丛桂轩，全园的核心山水景致皆可纳入视野，堪称“咫尺山林，多方胜景”的造园典范。冬日暖阳透过堂内的雕花窗格，在青砖地面上投下古朴的纹样，与堂内陈列的明清家具相映成趣，尽显江南文人的雅致生活格调。
从远香堂向西，小飞虹横跨于水面之上，成为园内最具特色的建筑之一。这是江南园林中少见的廊桥，朱红桥身搭配青瓦廊顶，桥廊两侧设吴王靠，供游人休憩观景。冬日里坐于桥上，看阳光洒在水面，波光粼粼间，对岸的香洲与荷风四面亭隔水相望。香洲是一座形似画舫的水榭，船头、船舱、船尾的造型惟妙惟肖，与小飞虹形成“桥舫相映”的水景格局；荷风四面亭则立于池中岛心，四面环水，亭柱上“四壁荷花三面柳，半潭秋水一房山”的楹联，即便在冬日，也勾勒出园林的诗意底蕴。
深入园林西部，卅六鸳鸯馆与十八曼陀罗花馆相连，构成拙政园西区的核心建筑。这座鸳鸯厅以屏门分隔，南厅为“十八曼陀罗花馆”，因旧时植有十八株曼陀罗花而得名；北厅为“卅六鸳鸯馆”，曾饲养三十六对鸳鸯。厅内采用“勾连搭”的屋顶结构，四面皆设落地长窗，可根据四季风向开合，冬日闭窗则暖，夏日开窗则凉，尽显古人的生活智慧。厅内的木雕堪称一绝，梁枋上的松、竹、梅“岁寒三友”浮雕，以及裙板上的花鸟纹样，历经数百年依旧色彩鲜活。如今虽不见鸳鸯与曼陀罗花，冬日推开西窗，却能将园外的寒山与园内的腊梅纳入窗景，自然与建筑的交融在此达到极致。
除了这些标志性建筑，拙政园的冬日景致还藏于诸多精巧小品之中。梧竹幽居以梧桐、翠竹环绕，四角攒尖的亭顶搭配圆形洞门，形成“框景”效果，冬日泛黄的银杏叶铺在亭前石径，与翠竹的苍绿相映成趣；见山楼临水而建，三层楼阁错落有致，登楼可远眺虎丘山景，实现“园内见山，园外借景”的双重意境；与谁同坐轩为扇形小轩，取苏轼“与谁同坐？明月、清风、我”的诗意，轩前的扇形窗棂将水面与假山框成一幅流动的扇面画，冬日清风穿轩而过，仿佛与古人隔空对谈；听雨轩则植芭蕉、翠竹于窗前，虽无雨景，却能想象雨天“雨打芭蕉”的江南意趣，尽显文人园林的诗意情怀。
让游览体验更添愉悦的，是园内智能化与人性化的服务升级。无需繁琐的纸质票证，游客通过手机扫码预约后，刷脸即可快速入园，大大减少了排队等候的时间；园内各处设置的数字化导览牌，扫码便能收听中英双语的景点讲解，还可查看园林的历史沿革与造园工艺；针对老年游客，园区配备了便民休息椅、无障碍通道，以及免费的热水供应点；多语言的人工讲解服务，更是让海外游客也能读懂拙政园的文化内涵。这些细节之处的优化，让这座百年园林打破了时空与语言的壁垒，从“小众赏玩的古典园林”变为“全民共享的文旅地标”。
文旅融合的核心，在于让传统文化与现代生活同频共振。拙政园的实践印证了，保护文化遗产并非固守原貌，而是通过服务升级、技术赋能，让古典园林的美学价值与文化内涵被更多人所认知。从秫香馆的借景艺术，到远香堂的空间美学，从天泉亭的历史底蕴，到小飞虹的建筑巧思，拙政园的每一处景致都承载着中国传统造园文化的精髓；而刷脸入园、数字导览等现代服务，则让这份精髓以更亲民、更便捷的方式触达大众。
走出拙政园时，13:48的阳光正将宜两亭的飞檐染成金红。这座小巧的方亭，取“一亭宜两家”之意，既可观东区的山水，又能赏西区的建筑，是拙政园造园智慧的又一体现。回望这座千年园林，它不仅是苏州的城市名片，更是中国文旅产业探索“传统+现代”融合发展的生动样本——当千年造园艺术遇上智能服务，传统文化的生命力便在传承与创新中得以永续，也为全国古典园林的保护与活化利用提供了可借鉴的路径。
Classical Gardens Integrate with Modern Services: Humble Administrator"s Garden Creates a New Landscape of Culture-Tourism Integration
At 12:14 on December 26, 2025, my wife Zhu Yuanzhen and I stepped onto the bluestone paths of Suzhou"s Humble Administrator"s Garden through on-site reservation and face-scanning entry; we exited the garden at 13:48. In just 94 minutes of visiting, we not only experienced the winter aesthetics of Jiangnan classical gardens immersively but also truly felt the new vitality injected into traditional cultural tourism scenes by the modern service system. First built in the early years of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty, this garden has undergone hundreds of years of trials and tribulations, and now has become a vivid microcosm of the high-quality development of China"s cultural tourism industry with a fusion model of "traditional garden art + modern smart services".
As the top of China"s four famous gardens and a World Cultural Heritage site, the Humble Administrator"s Garden covers an area of 78 mu, centered on water, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with exquisite halls and pavilions, and lush flowers and trees, fully showing the graceful artistic conception of the Jiangnan water town. After entering the garden, walking along the water, the first stop is the Shuxiang Hall, which fully shows the garden designer"s ingenuity in borrowing scenery. Originally named "Rice Flower Fragrance Hall", this hall built facing the water takes the meaning of the fragrance of rice waves in autumn. Its spacious floor-to-ceiling windows take in the outline of the North Temple Pagoda outside the garden and the blue waves and rockeries inside the garden, forming a wonderful scene of "the pagoda shadow entering the garden". Standing against the railing in winter, although there is no fragrance of rice flowers, one can see the cold water reflecting the pagoda, cruise boats rippling gently, and light and shadow flowing between the window lattice, where the spatial aesthetics of classical gardens are displayed incisively and vividly.
Taking dozens of steps forward, the Tianquan Pavilion is quietly hidden among the rockeries and ancient trees. It is one of the oldest existing buildings in the Humble Administrator"s Garden, named after the "Tianquan Well" dug in the Yuan Dynasty under the pavilion. The pavilion has a hexagonal pyramidal roof, covered with frost on blue tiles and mottled stone railings. The wellhead is surrounded by bluestone, and the well water is still clear and cold. The winter sun casts fine light spots on the well platform through the branches and leaves of the ancient camphor tree beside the pavilion. Touching the cold stone railing with fingertips, one can almost touch the garden-making context of the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Although the Tianquan Pavilion is small, it is integrated with the surrounding yellow stone rockeries and twisted ancient trees, following the garden-making concept of "seeing the big in the small", and becoming a quiet viewing spot in the garden.
Moving to the middle of the garden, the Yuanxiang Hall, as the core main hall of the whole garden, catches the eye instantly. This hall with a single-eave gable and hip roof has three bays in width, with nanmu as columns, and transparent floor-to-ceiling windows connecting the inside and outside scenery. The hall"s name is taken from the line "Fragrance drifts far and wide, becoming more pure, standing tall and straight" in Zhou Dunyi"s Ode to the Lotus. Although there are no lotus flowers in winter, the lotus pond in front of the hall is still sparkling, making people imagine the grand scene of "endless blue lotus leaves reaching the sky" in summer. Standing in the hall and looking around, one can see the Xiuqi Pavilion to the east, the South Veranda to the west, the Lotus Breeze Pavilion on All Sides to the north, and the Xiaoshan Conggui Xuan to the south. The core landscape of the whole garden can be included in the field of vision, which is a model of garden-making of "a tiny mountain forest with many scenic spots". The winter warm sun casts ancient patterns on the blue brick floor through the carved window lattice in the hall, forming an interesting contrast with the Ming and Qing furniture displayed in the hall, fully showing the elegant life style of Jiangnan literati.
West of the Yuanxiang Hall, the Little Flying Rainbow spans the water surface, becoming one of the most distinctive buildings in the garden. This is a rare covered bridge in Jiangnan gardens, with a vermilion bridge body and a blue tile corridor roof. Wu Wang stools are set on both sides of the bridge corridor for tourists to rest and enjoy the scenery. Sitting on the bridge in winter, watching the sun shine on the water surface, with sparkling waves, the Xiangzhou and the Lotus Breeze Pavilion on All Sides on the opposite bank face each other across the water. Xiangzhou is a waterside pavilion shaped like a painted boat, with vivid shapes of bow, cabin and stern, forming a water scene pattern of "bridge and boat reflecting each other" with the Little Flying Rainbow; the Lotus Breeze Pavilion on All Sides stands in the center of the island in the pool, surrounded by water on all sides. The couplet on the pavilion pillars, "Four walls of lotus flowers and three sides of willows, half a pool of autumn water and one room of mountains", outlines the poetic heritage of the garden even in winter.
Going deep into the west of the garden, the Thirty-Six Mandarin Duck Hall is connected with the Eighteen Datura Flower Hall, forming the core building of the west area of the Humble Administrator"s Garden. This mandarin duck hall is separated by a screen door. The south hall is the "Eighteen Datura Flower Hall", named after the eighteen datura plants planted in the old days; the north hall is the "Thirty-Six Mandarin Duck Hall", which once raised thirty-six pairs of mandarin ducks. The hall adopts a "connected roof" structure, with floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides, which can be opened and closed according to the wind direction in four seasons. Closing the windows in winter keeps warm, and opening the windows in summer keeps cool, fully showing the life wisdom of the ancients. The wood carvings in the hall are unique. The reliefs of "Three Friends of Winter" (pine, bamboo and plum) on the beams and Fang, as well as the flower and bird patterns on the skirt boards, are still bright in color after hundreds of years. Although there are no mandarin ducks and datura flowers now, opening the west window in winter can take in the cold mountains outside the garden and the wintersweet inside the garden into the window view, where the integration of nature and architecture reaches the extreme.
In addition to these iconic buildings, the winter scenery of the Humble Administrator"s Garden is also hidden in many exquisite sketches. Wuzhu Seclusion is surrounded byIndus and green bamboos, with a quadrangular pyramidal pavilion roof and a circular hole door, forming a "framed scenery" effect. In winter, yellow ginkgo leaves cover the stone path in front of the pavilion, forming an interesting contrast with the dark green of green bamboos; Jianshan Tower is built facing the water, with three floors of pavilions arranged in a staggered manner. Climbing the tower, one can overlook the scenery of Tiger Hill, realizing the dual artistic conception of "seeing mountains in the garden and borrowing scenery outside the garden"; With Whom Shall I Sit Veranda is a fan-shaped small veranda, taking the poetic meaning of Su Shi"s "With whom shall I sit? The bright moon, the clear wind and I". The fan-shaped window lattice in front of the veranda frames the water surface and rockeries into a flowing fan painting. The winter clear wind passes through the veranda, as if having a dialogue with the ancients across time and space; Listening to the Rain Veranda has banana and green bamboo planted in front of the window. Although there is no rain scene, one can imagine the Jiangnan poetic interest of "rain hitting banana" on rainy days, fully showing the poetic feelings of the literati garden.
What makes the visiting experience more pleasant is the upgraded intelligent and humanized services in the garden. Without cumbersome paper tickets, tourists can enter quickly by face-scanning after making an appointment by scanning the code on their mobile phones, which greatly reduces the waiting time in line; digital guide signs set up everywhere in the garden allow tourists to listen to Chinese and English bilingual explanations of scenic spots by scanning the code, and also view the historical evolution and garden-making techniques of the garden; for elderly tourists, the park is equipped with convenient rest chairs, barrier-free passages, and free hot water supply points; multilingual manual explanation services enable overseas tourists to understand the cultural connotation of the Humble Administrator"s Garden. The optimization of these details has made this century-old garden break the barriers of time, space and language, changing from a "classical garden for niche appreciation" to a "cultural tourism landmark shared by all".
The core of culture-tourism integration lies in making traditional culture resonate with modern life. The practice of the Humble Administrator"s Garden confirms that protecting cultural heritage is not about clinging to the original appearance, but about enabling more people to recognize the aesthetic value and cultural connotation of classical gardens through service upgrading and technological empowerment. From the scenery-borrowing art of the Shuxiang Hall to the spatial aesthetics of the Yuanxiang Hall, from the historical heritage of the Tianquan Pavilion to the architectural ingenuity of the Little Flying Rainbow, every scene of the Humble Administrator"s Garden carries the essence of China"s traditional garden-making culture; modern services such as face-scanning entry and digital guide make this essence accessible to the public in a more approachable and convenient way.
When walking out of the Humble Administrator"s Garden, the 13:48 sun is dyeing the overhanging eaves of the Yili Pavilion golden red. This small square pavilion, taking the meaning of "one pavilion suitable for two families", can not only view the landscapes in the east area but also appreciate the buildings in the west area, which is another embodiment of the garden-making wisdom of the Humble Administrator"s Garden. Looking back at this millennium-old garden, it is not only a city card of Suzhou but also a vivid sample of China"s cultural tourism industry exploring the integrated development of "tradition + modernity". When the millennium-old garden-making art meets intelligent services, the vitality of traditional culture is sustained in inheritance and innovation, and it also provides a reference path for the protection and activation of classical gardens across the country.
古典园林与现代服务相融 拙政园绘就文旅融合新图景
2025年12月26日12:14，我与夫人朱元珍通过现场预约、刷脸入园的方式，踏入苏州拙政园的青石板路；13:48步出园门，短短94分钟的游览，不仅沉浸式感受了江南古典园林的冬日美学，更真切体会到现代服务体系为传统文旅场景注入的新活力。这座始建于明正德初年的园林，历经数百年岁月洗礼，如今以“传统造园艺术+现代智慧服务”的融合模式，成为中国文旅产业高质量发展的鲜活缩影。
作为中国四大名园之首、世界文化遗产，拙政园占地78亩，以水为中心，山水萦绕，厅榭精美，花木繁茂，尽显江南水乡的婉约意境。入园后沿水而行，首先抵达的秫香馆便尽显造园者的借景巧思。这座面水而建的馆舍，原名“稻花香馆”，取秋日稻浪飘香之意，其轩敞的落地窗将园外北寺塔的轮廓与园内的碧波假山尽收眼底，形成“塔影入园”的绝妙景致。冬日里凭栏而立，虽无稻花飘香，却能看寒水映塔，游船轻漾，光影在窗棂间流转，古典园林的空间美学在此展现得淋漓尽致。
前行数十步，天泉亭静静隐于假山古木之间。这是拙政园现存最古老的建筑之一，因亭下藏有元代开凿的“天泉井”而得名。亭为六角攒尖顶，青瓦覆霜，石栏斑驳，井口以青石围合，井水清冽依旧。冬日的阳光透过亭旁的古樟枝叶，在井台上投下细碎的光斑，指尖触碰冰凉的石栏，仿佛能触摸到元明时期的造园脉络。天泉亭虽小，却与周边的黄石假山、虬曲古木浑然一体，遵循“小中见大”的造园理念，成为园内一隅静谧的观景佳处。
行至园林中部，远香堂作为全园的核心主厅，瞬间抓住视线。这座单檐歇山顶的厅堂，面阔三间，楠木为柱，通透的落地长窗将内外景致连通。堂名取自周敦颐《爱莲说》中“香远益清，亭亭净植”，虽冬日无荷，堂前荷池却依旧波光粼粼，让人遥想夏日“接天莲叶无穷碧”的盛景。站在堂中环顾，东望绣绮亭，西接南轩，北临荷风四面亭，南眺小山丛桂轩，全园的核心山水景致皆可纳入视野，堪称“咫尺山林，多方胜景”的造园典范。冬日暖阳透过堂内的雕花窗格，在青砖地面上投下古朴的纹样，与堂内陈列的明清家具相映成趣，尽显江南文人的雅致生活格调。
从远香堂向西，小飞虹横跨于水面之上，成为园内最具特色的建筑之一。这是江南园林中少见的廊桥，朱红桥身搭配青瓦廊顶，桥廊两侧设吴王靠，供游人休憩观景。冬日里坐于桥上，看阳光洒在水面，波光粼粼间，对岸的香洲与荷风四面亭隔水相望。香洲是一座形似画舫的水榭，船头、船舱、船尾的造型惟妙惟肖，与小飞虹形成“桥舫相映”的水景格局；荷风四面亭则立于池中岛心，四面环水，亭柱上“四壁荷花三面柳，半潭秋水一房山”的楹联，即便在冬日，也勾勒出园林的诗意底蕴。
深入园林西部，卅六鸳鸯馆与十八曼陀罗花馆相连，构成拙政园西区的核心建筑。这座鸳鸯厅以屏门分隔，南厅为“十八曼陀罗花馆”，因旧时植有十八株曼陀罗花而得名；北厅为“卅六鸳鸯馆”，曾饲养三十六对鸳鸯。厅内采用“勾连搭”的屋顶结构，四面皆设落地长窗，可根据四季风向开合，冬日闭窗则暖，夏日开窗则凉，尽显古人的生活智慧。厅内的木雕堪称一绝，梁枋上的松、竹、梅“岁寒三友”浮雕，以及裙板上的花鸟纹样，历经数百年依旧色彩鲜活。如今虽不见鸳鸯与曼陀罗花，冬日推开西窗，却能将园外的寒山与园内的腊梅纳入窗景，自然与建筑的交融在此达到极致。
除了这些标志性建筑，拙政园的冬日景致还藏于诸多精巧小品之中。梧竹幽居以梧桐、翠竹环绕，四角攒尖的亭顶搭配圆形洞门，形成“框景”效果，冬日泛黄的银杏叶铺在亭前石径，与翠竹的苍绿相映成趣；见山楼临水而建，三层楼阁错落有致，登楼可远眺虎丘山景，实现“园内见山，园外借景”的双重意境；与谁同坐轩为扇形小轩，取苏轼“与谁同坐？明月、清风、我”的诗意，轩前的扇形窗棂将水面与假山框成一幅流动的扇面画，冬日清风穿轩而过，仿佛与古人隔空对谈；听雨轩则植芭蕉、翠竹于窗前，虽无雨景，却能想象雨天“雨打芭蕉”的江南意趣，尽显文人园林的诗意情怀。
让游览体验更添愉悦的，是园内智能化与人性化的服务升级。无需繁琐的纸质票证，游客通过手机扫码预约后，刷脸即可快速入园，大大减少了排队等候的时间；园内各处设置的数字化导览牌，扫码便能收听中英双语的景点讲解，还可查看园林的历史沿革与造园工艺；针对老年游客，园区配备了便民休息椅、无障碍通道，以及免费的热水供应点；多语言的人工讲解服务，更是让海外游客也能读懂拙政园的文化内涵。这些细节之处的优化，让这座百年园林打破了时空与语言的壁垒，从“小众赏玩的古典园林”变为“全民共享的文旅地标”。
文旅融合的核心，在于让传统文化与现代生活同频共振。拙政园的实践印证了，保护文化遗产并非固守原貌，而是通过服务升级、技术赋能，让古典园林的美学价值与文化内涵被更多人所认知。从秫香馆的借景艺术，到远香堂的空间美学，从天泉亭的历史底蕴，到小飞虹的建筑巧思，拙政园的每一处景致都承载着中国传统造园文化的精髓；而刷脸入园、数字导览等现代服务，则让这份精髓以更亲民、更便捷的方式触达大众。
走出拙政园时，13:48的阳光正将宜两亭的飞檐染成金红。这座小巧的方亭，取“一亭宜两家”之意，既可观东区的山水，又能赏西区的建筑，是拙政园造园智慧的又一体现。回望这座千年园林，它不仅是苏州的城市名片，更是中国文旅产业探索“传统+现代”融合发展的生动样本——当千年造园艺术遇上智能服务，传统文化的生命力便在传承与创新中得以永续，也为全国古典园林的保护与活化利用提供了可借鉴的路径。
Classical Gardens Integrate with Modern Services: Humble Administrator"s Garden Creates a New Landscape of Culture-Tourism Integration
At 12:14 on December 26, 2025, my wife Zhu Yuanzhen and I stepped onto the bluestone paths of Suzhou"s Humble Administrator"s Garden through on-site reservation and face-scanning entry; we exited the garden at 13:48. In just 94 minutes of visiting, we not only experienced the winter aesthetics of Jiangnan classical gardens immersively but also truly felt the new vitality injected into traditional cultural tourism scenes by the modern service system. First built in the early years of the Zhengde reign of the Ming Dynasty, this garden has undergone hundreds of years of trials and tribulations, and now has become a vivid microcosm of the high-quality development of China"s cultural tourism industry with a fusion model of "traditional garden art + modern smart services".
As the top of China"s four famous gardens and a World Cultural Heritage site, the Humble Administrator"s Garden covers an area of 78 mu, centered on water, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with exquisite halls and pavilions, and lush flowers and trees, fully showing the graceful artistic conception of the Jiangnan water town. After entering the garden, walking along the water, the first stop is the Shuxiang Hall, which fully shows the garden designer"s ingenuity in borrowing scenery. Originally named "Rice Flower Fragrance Hall", this hall built facing the water takes the meaning of the fragrance of rice waves in autumn. Its spacious floor-to-ceiling windows take in the outline of the North Temple Pagoda outside the garden and the blue waves and rockeries inside the garden, forming a wonderful scene of "the pagoda shadow entering the garden". Standing against the railing in winter, although there is no fragrance of rice flowers, one can see the cold water reflecting the pagoda, cruise boats rippling gently, and light and shadow flowing between the window lattice, where the spatial aesthetics of classical gardens are displayed incisively and vividly.
Taking dozens of steps forward, the Tianquan Pavilion is quietly hidden among the rockeries and ancient trees. It is one of the oldest existing buildings in the Humble Administrator"s Garden, named after the "Tianquan Well" dug in the Yuan Dynasty under the pavilion. The pavilion has a hexagonal pyramidal roof, covered with frost on blue tiles and mottled stone railings. The wellhead is surrounded by bluestone, and the well water is still clear and cold. The winter sun casts fine light spots on the well platform through the branches and leaves of the ancient camphor tree beside the pavilion. Touching the cold stone railing with fingertips, one can almost touch the garden-making context of the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Although the Tianquan Pavilion is small, it is integrated with the surrounding yellow stone rockeries and twisted ancient trees, following the garden-making concept of "seeing the big in the small", and becoming a quiet viewing spot in the garden.
Moving to the middle of the garden, the Yuanxiang Hall, as the core main hall of the whole garden, catches the eye instantly. This hall with a single-eave gable and hip roof has three bays in width, with nanmu as columns, and transparent floor-to-ceiling windows connecting the inside and outside scenery. The hall"s name is taken from the line "Fragrance drifts far and wide, becoming more pure, standing tall and straight" in Zhou Dunyi"s Ode to the Lotus. Although there are no lotus flowers in winter, the lotus pond in front of the hall is still sparkling, making people imagine the grand scene of "endless blue lotus leaves reaching the sky" in summer. Standing in the hall and looking around, one can see the Xiuqi Pavilion to the east, the South Veranda to the west, the Lotus Breeze Pavilion on All Sides to the north, and the Xiaoshan Conggui Xuan to the south. The core landscape of the whole garden can be included in the field of vision, which is a model of garden-making of "a tiny mountain forest with many scenic spots". The winter warm sun casts ancient patterns on the blue brick floor through the carved window lattice in the hall, forming an interesting contrast with the Ming and Qing furniture displayed in the hall, fully showing the elegant life style of Jiangnan literati.
West of the Yuanxiang Hall, the Little Flying Rainbow spans the water surface, becoming one of the most distinctive buildings in the garden. This is a rare covered bridge in Jiangnan gardens, with a vermilion bridge body and a blue tile corridor roof. Wu Wang stools are set on both sides of the bridge corridor for tourists to rest and enjoy the scenery. Sitting on the bridge in winter, watching the sun shine on the water surface, with sparkling waves, the Xiangzhou and the Lotus Breeze Pavilion on All Sides on the opposite bank face each other across the water. Xiangzhou is a waterside pavilion shaped like a painted boat, with vivid shapes of bow, cabin and stern, forming a water scene pattern of "bridge and boat reflecting each other" with the Little Flying Rainbow; the Lotus Breeze Pavilion on All Sides stands in the center of the island in the pool, surrounded by water on all sides. The couplet on the pavilion pillars, "Four walls of lotus flowers and three sides of willows, half a pool of autumn water and one room of mountains", outlines the poetic heritage of the garden even in winter.
Going deep into the west of the garden, the Thirty-Six Mandarin Duck Hall is connected with the Eighteen Datura Flower Hall, forming the core building of the west area of the Humble Administrator"s Garden. This mandarin duck hall is separated by a screen door. The south hall is the "Eighteen Datura Flower Hall", named after the eighteen datura plants planted in the old days; the north hall is the "Thirty-Six Mandarin Duck Hall", which once raised thirty-six pairs of mandarin ducks. The hall adopts a "connected roof" structure, with floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides, which can be opened and closed according to the wind direction in four seasons. Closing the windows in winter keeps warm, and opening the windows in summer keeps cool, fully showing the life wisdom of the ancients. The wood carvings in the hall are unique. The reliefs of "Three Friends of Winter" (pine, bamboo and plum) on the beams and Fang, as well as the flower and bird patterns on the skirt boards, are still bright in color after hundreds of years. Although there are no mandarin ducks and datura flowers now, opening the west window in winter can take in the cold mountains outside the garden and the wintersweet inside the garden into the window view, where the integration of nature and architecture reaches the extreme.
In addition to these iconic buildings, the winter scenery of the Humble Administrator"s Garden is also hidden in many exquisite sketches. Wuzhu Seclusion is surrounded byIndus and green bamboos, with a quadrangular pyramidal pavilion roof and a circular hole door, forming a "framed scenery" effect. In winter, yellow ginkgo leaves cover the stone path in front of the pavilion, forming an interesting contrast with the dark green of green bamboos; Jianshan Tower is built facing the water, with three floors of pavilions arranged in a staggered manner. Climbing the tower, one can overlook the scenery of Tiger Hill, realizing the dual artistic conception of "seeing mountains in the garden and borrowing scenery outside the garden"; With Whom Shall I Sit Veranda is a fan-shaped small veranda, taking the poetic meaning of Su Shi"s "With whom shall I sit? The bright moon, the clear wind and I". The fan-shaped window lattice in front of the veranda frames the water surface and rockeries into a flowing fan painting. The winter clear wind passes through the veranda, as if having a dialogue with the ancients across time and space; Listening to the Rain Veranda has banana and green bamboo planted in front of the window. Although there is no rain scene, one can imagine the Jiangnan poetic interest of "rain hitting banana" on rainy days, fully showing the poetic feelings of the literati garden.
What makes the visiting experience more pleasant is the upgraded intelligent and humanized services in the garden. Without cumbersome paper tickets, tourists can enter quickly by face-scanning after making an appointment by scanning the code on their mobile phones, which greatly reduces the waiting time in line; digital guide signs set up everywhere in the garden allow tourists to listen to Chinese and English bilingual explanations of scenic spots by scanning the code, and also view the historical evolution and garden-making techniques of the garden; for elderly tourists, the park is equipped with convenient rest chairs, barrier-free passages, and free hot water supply points; multilingual manual explanation services enable overseas tourists to understand the cultural connotation of the Humble Administrator"s Garden. The optimization of these details has made this century-old garden break the barriers of time, space and language, changing from a "classical garden for niche appreciation" to a "cultural tourism landmark shared by all".
The core of culture-tourism integration lies in making traditional culture resonate with modern life. The practice of the Humble Administrator"s Garden confirms that protecting cultural heritage is not about clinging to the original appearance, but about enabling more people to recognize the aesthetic value and cultural connotation of classical gardens through service upgrading and technological empowerment. From the scenery-borrowing art of the Shuxiang Hall to the spatial aesthetics of the Yuanxiang Hall, from the historical heritage of the Tianquan Pavilion to the architectural ingenuity of the Little Flying Rainbow, every scene of the Humble Administrator"s Garden carries the essence of China"s traditional garden-making culture; modern services such as face-scanning entry and digital guide make this essence accessible to the public in a more approachable and convenient way.
When walking out of the Humble Administrator"s Garden, the 13:48 sun is dyeing the overhanging eaves of the Yili Pavilion golden red. This small square pavilion, taking the meaning of "one pavilion suitable for two families", can not only view the landscapes in the east area but also appreciate the buildings in the west area, which is another embodiment of the garden-making wisdom of the Humble Administrator"s Garden. Looking back at this millennium-old garden, it is not only a city card of Suzhou but also a vivid sample of China"s cultural tourism industry exploring the integrated development of "tradition + modernity". When the millennium-old garden-making art meets intelligent services, the vitality of traditional culture is sustained in inheritance and innovation, and it also provides a reference path for the protection and activation of classical gardens across the country.
