Things to do in Macau, China: The Best Gardens

Reviewed By OrderintheHouse

For our 40th wedding anniversary my wife and I enjoyed an 18 day Asian tour from 28 December 2019 to 14 January 2020 taking in short stays in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Laos and Singapore. In Macau we had a two night stay in the Hotel Royal (reviewed separately) on Estrada da Vitória in the Macau parish of São Lázaro. For our one full day in Macau it rained on and off. Our program included a good visit in the morning to Guia Fortress (reviewed separately). After Guia Fortress, we decided to call in to see the Lou Lim Ieoc Garden, having no idea what to expect. We were not disappointed as this was a really lovely Chinese garden – an urban oasis in busy Macau and a quiet, peaceful resting place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Macau city life. It was still a great place to visit even in wet weather. The garden is modelled on those of Suzhou, China, the most famous of all Chinese classical gardens. It was the brainchild of local merchant Lou Kau who built the garden in 1906 as part of his residence. In 1973 the Macau government acquired the Garden as a public park and it was opened to the public the next year. There are lots of narrow paths, bamboo groves, rock grottoes and a lotus pond filled with golden carp and lotus flowers. There is also a very interesting nine-turn zig zag bridge to thwart evil spirits (which can travel only in straight lines). As we travelled through the Garden we admired a classic Chinese rich red columned covered walkway with an ornate white painted low side fence and green tiled roof. This was in the shape of a square with the walkway as the perimeter of the square and an open area in the middle with a nice floral display. There are a number of small four or five columned stone covered pavilions throughout the Garden with groups of people on the seats provided, no doubt taking a break from the excesses of the modern world and soaking up the very peaceful surroundings or meeting others for a chat. Taking centre stage is the waterside pavilion, Qingcao Hall, which is a fusion of Chinese and Western cultures with the external wall painted in light pastel yellow or beige, the favourite colour of Portuguese while the barrier close to the pond is painted red, China’s favourite colour. The corridor pillars are Gothic style, with European style engravings of white flower patterns at the top. The Garden offers an enchanting archway entrance with three Chinese tiled motifs above the arch and nice floral displays on both sides of the arch. As you enter you are greeted by an interesting stone sculpture of a lady beside a duck which obviously has some significance. We really enjoyed our surprise 30 minute visit in this lovely place. We saw the Garden on the map and didn’t know what to expect and our visit turned out to be a wonderful experience for both of us. We give it the “thumbs up” as a great place to include on any Macau travel itinerary.