An oasis of tranquillity

Dunedin, a city in southern New Zealand, is known for its Victorian architecture. It's also considered a favourite destination for tourists seeking a tryst with wildlife.

But the city's other claim to fame is its fine gardens. So when the local Chinese community considered giving Dunedin a gift on its 150th anniversary in 1997, it decided upon a garden.

At the time, Shanghai Museum officials were in Dunedin for an exhibition at an art gallery — part of the celebrations. Dunedin being its sister city, Shanghai offered to help.

They agreed to handle the design of the garden and even selected the plants for it. Now, 11 years later, the present has been handed over to the people of Dunedin.

Beauty in tranquillity

This strikingly beautiful gift, carefully named “Lan Yuan'' (Orchid Garden), is the only truly complete, authentic Chinese Scholar's Garden in the southern hemisphere.

The garden covers an acre of former wasteland and inside its boundary walls, the area has been transformed into an oasis of beauty and tranquillity.

It took 99 containers to transport from China every part that was to go into making the garden.

This included 970 tonnes of rock and 380,000 handmade tiles. It took 30 craftsmen four months in a Shanghai factory to build the wooden structures.

Once checked, the finely sculptured pavilions were packed and shipped halfway across the world to be reassembled in Dunedin.

The Chinese garden is regarded as living art and is designed to capture the spirit of the natural world.

The structures are placed to produce lines that seem to twist and turn, rise and fall, and create a series of completely different vistas.

Wood is the major element in the garden and neither nail nor glue has been used in making the structures. Instead, the pieces have been joined together by a traditional Chinese construction method that uses mortise and tenon.

Elements of the earth

As in Chinese poetry and painting, rocks, considered “the bones of the earth'', also play an symbolic role in the garden. Water, on the other hand, is regarded as the life of the garden.

The Dunedin pond is to shortly accommodate 1,000 fish. However, it will not contain carp — a species banned in New Zealand.

Plants are, of course, the other major element of the garden. Shrubs, trees and flowers are chosen for their symbolic meaning.

Willow, apple blossom, cherry blossom, magnolia and maple are just a few of the 94 plants you will find in the garden.

Bamboo, which symbolises refinement, and pine, which symbolises strength and resilience, are particularly important.

Lotus, believed to symbolise successful emergence from hardship (as the plant emerges from mud, itself unsoiled), will soon be added.

Spiritual shelter

In China, the Scholar's Garden dates back to the 7th century — the Ming dynasty. The scholars were educated in art, philosophy and poetry and were respected as government leaders.

The gardens offered them a refuge from the stress of their jobs. Designed to provide them with a spiritual shelter, these gardens gave them the opportunity to truly feel the magic of nature and discover their true selves.

The 15th-century Chinese garden designer, Ji Ching, said: “The garden is created by the human hand but should appear as if created by heaven.''

It is hoped that the modern tourist will also experience the magic of this refuge in New Zealand, which cost a whopping $7.5 million (Dh18.9 million).

— Ceidrik Heward is a New Zealand-based freelance writer

Go there . . . Dunedin . . . From the UAE

From Dubai
Emirates and New Zealand Airlines fly daily via Christchurch.
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Eithad and New Zealand Airlines fly three days a week via Sydney.
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Info courtesy: The Holiday Lounge
by Dnata. Ph 04-4298576