Item : LEG550.07 - Dr. Sun Yat-Sen garden - a friendly bridge

Item is a documentary on the construction of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen garden. The first section discusses the development of the classical garden in Suzhou, its history, and its purposes. This narration is illustrated with footage of morning scenes of streets and parks, the Yangzi River, and several gardens in the city. The second and much longer section covers the construction of the Vancouver garden. Footage of the construction is combined with narration describing the process; with emphasis throughout placed on how little the construction of the garden has changed since the Song Dynasty in the use of hand tools, traditional building methods, and traditional materials.

Specific stages of construction examined are the importing of the materials from China, the construction of the pillars and the assembling of the pavilions, clay tile roofing and roof finishing, the placement of Lake Tai rocks and the thin tall stones, the courtyard paving and internal tiling, the ‘leak window’ construction, and the construction and finishing work of the screens and railings in the carpentry shop. Also included is a short interview with Joe Wai, project architect, in which he discusses the background of the garden project. The documentary concludes with footage of the opening ceremony with a Chinese delegation, and footage of the completed garden.