Author Description

"With their distinctive characteristics, the gardens of China are amongst the most fascinating in the world. Many excellent books have been written about them but, on the whole, they have dealt only with the surviving imperial gardens and a selection of those of retired officials. Rarely are the fascinating courtyards and gardens of temples mentioned, nor the evocative enclosures of ancient burial grounds and imperial tombs - to say nothing of the public parks, botanical gardens and arboreta, most of which have sprung up since 1949." "In this book Peter Valder describes over 200 gardens in China which he has visited, including representatives of all types. In order to introduce them, he looks at how over the years Western visitors have perceived and come to understand Chinese gardens, and for each site provides notes on its location, history and plants." "Gardens in China contains over 500 colour photographs, many of them depicting gardens not previously illustrated in any Western publication, as well as reproductions of illustrations of historical interest."--Jacket.