Sydney is home to the Chinese Gardens of Friendship in Darling Harbour.
Initiated by the Chinese community for Australia’s 1988 Bicentenary celebrations, this beautiful space is located right in the middle of the city. The entire garden winds its way around a huge lake, guarded by a stone sea dragon…
There are buildings to explore…
This Mountain Gate offers a seat to weary travellers on their way up to the pavilion…
The garden boasts an abundance of interesting wildlife, including masses of giant koi…
We came across a couple of Eastern Water Dragons – this one was busy sunning himself and took no notice of us whatsoever. I took a photo of him from both sides…
This slightly smaller one was around the corner, guarding his territory…
We also spotted four grey teals, with their distinctive blue markings. They’re so accustomed to human contact that this one came right up and stood in my shadow…
The bamboo forest is only small, but densely planted…
…and masses of pink Azaleas were in bloom…
Naturally, no Chinese garden would be completely without running water, which is believed to bring good fortune…
I thought I’d bring back a little bit to share with you!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Absolutely wonderful! What a nice virtual tour this was… It seems to me that the ideograms are written in the traditional form instead of simplified, am I right?
I loved the azaleas, one of my favorite plants, but everything is pure beauty!
the teals are very cute… I bet your chickens would like to get acquainted ;-)
Sally, I think so! It’s a lovely place – I wish you could have been there to translate all the characters for me! :)
Fantastic Celia, what a magnificent place to visit!
Have a super weekend.
:-) Mandy
Thanks Mandy! I could have spent the entire afternoon there, it was so peaceful..
It is very beautiful, thank you for showing us.
Cindy, glad you enjoyed it, hope you get a chance to visit it one day!
Reminds me of that lovely poem Ducks by Frank W Harvey
From troubles of the world I turn to ducks,
Beautiful comical things
Sleeping or curled
Their heads beneath white wings
By water cool,
Or finding curious things
To eat in various mucks
Beneath the pool,
Tails uppermost, or waddling
Sailor-like on the shores
Of ponds, or paddling
– Left! Right! – with fanlike feet
Which are for steady oars
When they (white galleys) float
Each bird a boat
Rippling at will the sweet
Wide waterway…
Lovely teal pictures and lizards and looks like a great place, you really do live in a very special city….. xx
Lovely poem! I was looking for a duck poem (I think it was the one from Wind in the Willows), and this one is so perfect for these little teals. I wish you could have seen them, Jo. The little one I took the close up of nearly trod on my toe as it waddled past. There was a little duckling that was moving too fast to snap, and a pair of parents and another drake who was trying to jostle in on the female, so the males were fighting across the water and displaying at each other. Mesmerising stuff!
This is a part of Sydney I never knew about and would have loved to have explored on my visit! Thank for sharing with us, and have a super weekend :)
Tandy, I hope you’re having a great weekend too. It’s a really beautiful space, and you can’t even really hear the city traffic when you’re in there!
Loved this- I just saw a post on Chopin and my Saucepan on these same gardens! Love the different views and perspective!
Really? :) I’m not surprised, it’s a beautiful place!
Thank you for reminding me of these gardens, Celia. I went to them years ago and spent a totally relaxing hour or so, but had forgotten they were there. It is a truly magical little spot.
A, did you eat at the cafe in there? We didn’t, and I was wondering what the food was like…
What a beautiful garden When we were on our Asian holiday Will was obsessed with koi. He wanted to get some at home!
Claire, are they legal in Qld? Our friend Moo told us it was illegal to keep koi in South Australia…I never knew that! There were soooo many koi at the gardens!
What a peaceful little pocket in the middle of a busy city. Did you get dressed up in the costumes Celia? I did last time and it was so much fun, I felt very reagal as an Imperial Princess!
I resisted the urge, Becca. :) It looked like a fun thing to do though!
A note to anyone visiting, for a small fee you can dress up in costumes that they have for hire and have your photo taken in the gardens! Here’s a photo of the costumes available..
Lovely photos Celia – I’ve been to Sydney several times and didn’t know this garden was there. I loved your dragon-tail bread too, that looked wonderful and the truffle post – the risotto looked truly yum. I also thought how special it was that you created and crafted an adaptation of Edith’s Economical pud recipe especially for small man.
Jan, I’ve been living in Sydney, and I only went to the Gardens recently! Thank you – Small Man was very happy with his treacle pud! :)
I haven’t been to this lovely garden for years. Thank you for the reminder.
Deb darling, I’m grateful to be able to repay the favour in some small measure – I so enjoy reading all your sightseeing posts! :)
We’ve talked about going here a number of times but still haven’t quite made it. They look beautiful.
Brydie, it’s a nice place, and a very cheap day out with the kids! It only cost us $6 each to get in!
How beautiful! I want that hat!
We have a Chinese garden here in Pasadena, no waterfall though.
http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=490
Maz
Maz, it looks beautiful!! What a great garden!
impressive photos Celia, a wonderful family outing and a magical place to visit! x
Thanks Yvette, it’s a lovely spot to unwind!
Stunning photos, Celia! Thanks for sharing them.
Thanks Chris! If you ever get to Sydney, we’ll go for a visit! :)
What a day trip. I felt as if I was looking at pictures of China…beautiful. Where is your picture….
Norma, thank you! It’s a very beautiful place! I was behind the camera.. :)
What a lovely place to do Tai Chi in Celia. The gardens must be much appreciated by all those in the tower blocks surrounding it. I didn’t know much about Chinese gardens, so it was interesting to hear about the ‘must have’ water.
Choc, there is a whole culture of “feng shui” which is basically a system of rules governing how to arrange/lay out areas to maximise their good luck. I don’t subscribe to it, but it’s still culturally ingrained in all of us Chinese – never buy a house at the end of a T intersection, always have running water somewhere for prosperity etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui
I guess it’s the Chinese version of things like avoiding number 13! :)