The mission of the Portland Classical Chinese Garden is to cultivate an oasis of tranquil beauty and harmony to inspire, engage, and educate our global community in the appreciation of a richly authentic Chinese culture.
The Portland Classical Chinese Garden
NW 3rd Ave & Everett St
Portland, Oregon
503.228.8131
Hours: November 1 - March 31: 10:00am - 5:00pm
April 1 - October 31: 9:00am - 6:00pm
Admission: $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5.50 for students, children under 5 free
The beautiful Portland Classical Chinese Garden, is more formally known as the 'Garden of Awakening Orchids,' is a doublewalled oasis built in the traditional Chinese style with a great amount of help from Portland's Chinese sister city Suzhou. It takes up a city block at the north end of Chinatown and serves as a retreat from the chaos of urban life. It's more than a retreat, the garden integrates the elements of water, stone, light, shadow, color, texture, and fragrance to form an enclosed small world that mysteriously feels as though it unfurls the entire universe within its walls. Once in the garden you forget that you are only 12 feet away from the sidewalk on the other side.
Created to nurture and inspire all who visit, this Garden is little changed from what might have greeted you during the Ming dynasty in China. Portland’s is an authentic Suzhou-style garden. It grew out of a friendship between Portland and Suzhou, a city renowned for its exquisite gardens.
This walled Garden encloses a full city block. Serpentine walkways, a bridged lake, and open colonnades set off meticulously arranged landscape of plants, water, stone, poetry, and buildings. Architects and artisans from China who designed and constructed the Garden mean for each aspect of the Garden to convey artistic effect and symbolic importance.
The design embodies the duality of nature, yin and yang. When these are balanced, harmony results. The delicate balance in the Garden affects all your senses. Hear the sound of water dripping from the crescent-shaped tiles onto a banana leaf; enjoy the fragrance of jasmine or wintersweet; feel the sensation of each footstep on the mosaic stone paths.
The Garden unfolds a changing look by season. Each one as lovely as the last. It is home to hundreds of rare and unusual plants, nearly 100 specimen trees, water plants, bamboo and orchids. Taihu rocks symbolize high mountain peaks and frame a waterfall. Nine pavilions offer places to rest and contemplate. Couplets of poetry speak to the interplay with nature.
The yin and yang of the Garden take you to another place and time.
The Garden can be reached from I-405 by taking the Everett Street Exit and turning East. The garden is also available by MAX, which is Portland's light rail system, or by buses 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 33, 40, and 77
