Ancient Camphor Garden

Ancient Camphor Botanical Garden

The Ancient Camphor Garden is located in Houpu Village, Xishan, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Within the garden, two ancient camphor trees provide dense shade that blocks out the sun and are hailed as “the finest trees in Wu region.” The garden lies at the eastern foot of the junction between Damao Mountain and Ma Mountain. It gets its name from the thousand-year-old camphor trees within. According to an inscription carved in 1995, “The Ancient Camphor Garden was once a temple. In the Song Dynasty, it enshrined Guanyin, and in the Qing Dynasty, it worshipped the City God. Over time it fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in the Jiaxu year. The thousand-year-old camphor trees stand tall and reach for the sky, their lush foliage covering the ground, creating a magnificent sight. The mountain pool sculpts clouds, appearing deep and serene, with clear water that reflects like crystal. Green mountains form a natural barrier, and lush trees create a living screen, with radiant clouds and rosy clouds spreading across, while ancient branches shade the paths.”

The garden has two ancient camphor trees, one from the Song Dynasty and one from the Yuan Dynasty. The Song Dynasty camphor stands tall and graceful, dignified and elegant, with a trunk over 8 meters in diameter. The Yuan Dynasty camphor rises powerfully from the ground, majestic and imposing, with a trunk nearly 5 meters in diameter. These two ancient camphor trees, picturesque and lush, stand close to each other. Their intertwined branches and leaves stretch over the sky and cover the earth, giving people a sense of grandeur and extraordinary beauty. The ancient camphor trees are the focal point of the entire garden, with all structures built around them. Halls, pavilions, winding corridors, white walls, and blooming flowers combine to create not only the beauty of a classical garden but also the charm of natural wilderness — a perfect scene beyond compare.

In front of the garden stands a memorial archway with four pillars and three gates, made of granite. The characters “Ancient Camphor Garden” were written by Yang Zaihou, while the couplet “The vast sky meets the boundless marsh, and scattered islands dot the fairyland” was penned by Xie Xiaosi. On the back of the archway, the plaque “Embracing Greenery and Gathering Beauty” was inscribed by Wa Weng, and the couplet “Rows of peaks attempt to display all the splendors of Wu and Yue; the ancient camphor has witnessed the passage from the Song to the Yuan dynasties” was written by Qian Zhonglian. The mountain gate is a single-eave Xieshan-style structure, with the plaque “Receiving Splendor” inscribed by Wu Jinxiang. The flanking couplet “Emerald canopies of camphor in the clouds add more green; beyond the Buddha’s light, the garden grows even more serene” was composed by Yang Zaihou and written by Tan Yiwen.

In the central bay of the mountain gate stands a stone tablet inscribed with “Ancient Camphor Garden.” The center of the tablet features a line-engraved bird’s-eye view map of the entire garden, with inscriptions and signatures above and below. The upper inscription reads: “The Ancient Camphor Garden was once a temple. In the Song Dynasty, it enshrined Guanyin, and in the Qing Dynasty, it worshipped the City God. Over time it fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in the Jiaxu year. The Hall of the Mercy Boat sits at a strategic location. The Studio of Aspiration stands nearby for viewing. The Pavilion of Orchid Boats shines by the water. The Pavilion of Solitary Enlightenment rests on the rock and leans over the stream. The Gate of Receiving Splendor opens onto a main road. The towering archway and the deeply hidden painted pleasure boat. The thousand-year-old camphor trees stand tall and reach for the sky, their lush foliage covering the ground, creating a magnificent sight. The mountain pool sculpts clouds, appearing deep and serene, with clear water that reflects like crystal. Green mountains form a natural barrier, and green waters create a living screen, with radiant clouds and rosy clouds spreading across, while ancient branches shade the paths. A collection of wonders and beauties leaves nothing hidden; the morning sun and the night moon present ever-changing scenes. This tablet is made to record it. Written in the spring of the Yihe year by Li Zhoufang, inscribed by Yang Zaihou.”

In 1999, the Xishan National Modern Agricultural Demonstration Zone, in collaboration with the Nanjing Zhongshan Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, expanded the Ancient Camphor Garden into a 120-acre Ancient Camphor Botanical Garden based on the original site. The expanded garden houses nearly a thousand kinds of rare and exotic ornamental plants, making it a famous destination for tourism and botanical research.