There are many different types of Jiangnan private gardens. The main two we chose were the Humble Administrators and the Ancient town of Zhouzhuang.

In 1513, during the Ming Dynasty reign of Emperor Zhengde, an administrator named Wang Xianchen appropriated the temple and converted it into a private villa with gardens, which were constructed by digging lakes and piling the resultant earth into artificial islands. The garden was designed in collaboration with the renowned Ming artist Wen Zhengming, and was as large as today's garden, with numerous trees and pavilions. The Wang family sold the garden several years later, and it has changed hands many times since. WHERE IT WAS BUILT… (THE HUMBLE ADMINISTRATORS)

Today's garden is only very loosely related to its earliest version, but closely resembles its late Qing appearance, with numerous pavilions and bridges set among a maze of connected pools and islands. It consists of three major parts set about a large lake: the central part (Zhuozheng Yuan), the eastern part (once called Guitianyuanju, Dwelling Upon Return to the Countryside), and a western part (the Supplementary Garden). The house lies in the south of the garden. In total, the garden contains 48 different buildings with 101 tablets, 40 stelae, 21 precious old trees, and over 700 Suzhou-style penjing/penzai. CHARACTERISTICS (THE HUMBLE ADMINISTRATORS)

Rivers crisscross in the town of Zhouzhuang, where buildings and streets are constructed along the rivers. Over 60% of the buildings across the town were built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the tiny 0.47-sq.kilometer ancient town, there are close to one hundred classical houses and over 60 brick carving gate towers. The most representative building is Shen's House, which is a courtyard house with the Qing Dynasty styles. The overall structure of the house is in neat formation, with different styles in various parts. While the most striking feature of Zhang’s House is the small river streaming through the courtyard, where there’s a pond covering over three square meters for unloading ships. STRUCTURE (ANCIENT TOWN OF ZHOUZHUANG)

One of the most well-known people of Zhouzhuang was Shen Wansan, the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River during the early years of the Ming Dynasty. He conducted trade by capitalizing on the convenient waterway transportation in Zhouzhuang. The place thus became a flourishing town in the south of the Yangtze River at that time as well as a distributing centre of grain, silk, porcelain wares and handicrafts. WHO LIVES THERE (ANCIENT TOWN OF ZHOUZHUANG)