The Master of Nets Garden

The Master of Nets Garden is located in south of Suzhou, covers 5,400 square meters. It is a typical example of combining living quarters with a landscape garden in Suzhou and is the smallest of the Suzhou residential gardens. The Garden is the most impressive because of its use of space. It was first designed during the Southern Song Dynasty as a residence for a government official. Later on, it went through vicissitudes in different dynasties until 1765 in the Qing Dynasty, an official named Song Zongyuan bought and restored the garden. It is said that in a moment of frustration with bureaucracy he declared that he would rather be a fisherman than a bureaucrat. Therefore, he changed the name of this garden to "Wangshi Yuan", meaning a fisher’s garden in English, to express his will. In October 1958, the Master of Nets Garden was officially opened to the public. The visiting of this garden requires about 1-2 hours’ leisurely walk to take in everything on a first pass, but it is truly worth it.