Horticulturalists create special world in heart of England

On Aug 21, sunshine bathed Greater Manchester, which is so often doused in drizzle, no matter the season.

When Eva Falck-Wall Simpson walked into the Royal Horticultural Society's Garden Bridgewater in Worsley, from the south, and meandered along its stream in a northerly direction, a newly completed Chinese pavilion on the bank of the waterway immediately caught her eye.

Simpson is a frequent visitor to the garden, which is 10 kilometers west of central Manchester, England, and has attracted millions of visitors since its opening in 2021. She decided to make a quick sketch of the authentic Chinese-style structure that had recently taken shape.

"I've seen it when they've been building it," she says. "You get a sense of calm when you come here. It is like one of the buzzword, mindfulness, as you just sink into the garden."

The pavilion, which is surrounded by woodland, is hexagonal. Its roof, converging in a crown on top, appears in stone gray, as it is made from brick and tiles fired by Chinese kilns. The six rings of columns that support the head are brick red and made of Chinese fir and stone.

It was on that day in August that the pavilion, named Qing Yin, which refers to bright and clear music, was unveiled to the public. A carving on the structure reads: "Why must exquisite music come from stringed and bamboo instruments? Clear sounds echoing between mountains and rivers are more moving."

All materials used in the construction of the pavilion were shipped to the United Kingdom, and put together piece by piece to be the focal point of the Chinese Streamside Garden, another classically inspired Chinese-style piece of architecture in its early years at Garden Bridgewater.

When completed, it will be the first true Chinese garden of significance in the UK, with 11 distinct garden spaces over a 2.8-hectare area.

Carefully designed by Chinese artisans and horticultural experts, the garden draws inspiration from a real Chinese garden and integrates profound Chinese philosophical ideas into its composition.

It also marks a representative Sino-British cultural exchange project, celebrating close collaboration between the two nations in garden arts, which was not suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The story started in 2018 at a breakfast table.