The sign at the entrance claims that Sun Yat Sen Garden was named by National Geographic as the Best City Garden in the world. That is quite the recognition, and a reason to go check it out. Sun Yat Sen Garden is the first authentic Chinese Scholar’s garden built outside of China. It was first opened for Expo 86. With only a very few exceptions all the material as well as the plants used in it’s conception was imported from the Suzhou region of China. The gardens are designed in intricate detail steeped in Chinese philosophies. The house, halls, inner courtyards, pond and pagodas are a symphony for the senses.
Make sure you take the tour which is free with your entrance ticket, because the tour is so informative it will make your visit of this small , reflective garden a much more enjoyable and satisfying experience. If you only want to meander the paths and look at the poi swimming in the pond, then perhaps the adjacent free public park will be enough. It too is reflective and peaceful even without the poetry or elegance of the scholar’s house or it’s hall of a thousand rivers. There is no free Chinese tea and no inner courtyards or tiles that sing in the rain. The city of Vancouver is still happy to provide you with a beautiful and free Chinese styled park, built of mostly North American materials, to stroll through, enjoy or have your lunch in at your leisure.
I posted this yesterday on Trip Advisor, so you can check it and other reviews I've done there.
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