Don't be fooled by the name; this is the largest of all the classical gardens in Suzhou at more than 50,000 sq m (12.5 acres), and arguably the most impressive. Like many of the other gardens in the city, the Humble Administrator's Garden (Zhuōzhèng Yuán, 拙政园) is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A private residence during the Tang Dynasty, real development of the garden did not begin until the early 1500s when persecuted poet and one-time Imperial Envoy Wang Xiancheng retired there (lending the garden its name; it's sometimes even referred to as "The Unsuccessful Politician's Garden") and spent 16 years developing the grounds with his friend, the artist Wen Zhenming.

The garden was later immortalised in Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber, also translated as Dream of Red Mansions, which is considered one of the four great Chinese classic novels. Cao lived there as a teenager, and is believed to have used it as an inspiration for his work about the decline of an aristocratic family.

The design of the garden today looks more like it would have during Qing times than when it was first built, but it's nevertheless a beautiful place, with three sections set around a large lake, dotted with myrtle trees, lotus ponds and bamboo groves, and crisscrossed by bridges straight out of a classical painting.

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