Garden of Ease ( Yi yuan)
This garden is in the city centre off Renmin lu and south of Guanqian jie. It is the newest and smallest of Suzhou gardens, constructed in the late Qing dynasty in 1870 by a retiring official. The style is somewhat eclectic as it takes both ideas and artefacts from other gardens in the city. The garden is divided into east and west by a promenade; on the east side are man-made structures, while the western side comprises natural scenery.

Finally, as you wend your way southwards down Renmin lu to Youyi lu, where the hotels of Suzhou are peacefully situated, you will come to two more gardens – Canglang ting and Wang shi yuan.

Garden of the Master of the Nets (Wang shi yuan)
This garden lies just off the south side of Youyi lu between the two hotels. The name is another allusion to the desire of court officials to retire from court life. It was originally built in 1140 as the Rich 232 Collection Hall; in the mid-eighteenth century it was rebuilt and renamed. The garden is compact – less than half a hectare – and the east of the garden is the residential area. In the centre are a small pond, rockeries and a covered promenade. The western sector is an elegant arrangement of rocks and plants, and in the north stands the Hall for Staying Spring (Dian chun yi), built in the Ming Dynasty.

West Garden (Xi yuan)
Xi yuan is situated at the western end of Liuyuan 1u, and combines the Monastery of Discipline (Jie zhang lu si), and the Fangsheng Pond Garden. A temple has been on the site since the end of the thirteenth century in the Yuan dynasty. During the Ming dynasty it was first known as the West Garden – the Tarrying Garden being referred to as the East Garden. The present building dates from 1892 (the earlier one was destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion). The temple has a Hall of Arhats – made from clay and gilded, there are 500 of them together with the statue of the popular Jia Dian, whose face wears a severe or friendly expression depending on the side he is viewed from. The garden to the west of the temple consists of the Pond for Setting Captive Fish Free, with a mid-lake pavilion from which you can watch the fish.