Master of the Nets Garden

The Master of the Nets Garden spans barely half an acre, making it the smallest private garden in Suzhou. Its design tricks the eye into sensing vast space through a clever layout of water, corridors, and rockeries that loop around a central pond. In the twelfth century, a government official built a simple retreat here, naming it for the life of a fisherman. Centuries later, a retired scholar rebuilt the derelict grounds, filling them with the delicate pavilions and winding paths seen today.