The Scroll | Lan Su Chinese Garden

Culture Spotlight: A Small Taste of China’s Blooming Cultural Tourism

Venus Sun reflects on cultural storytelling in modern China, sharing experiences of visiting Xi’an, engaging with history through performance, themed resorts, and hanfu dress-up, transforming literature into immersive experiences.
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Hort Tidbit February 2026: The Flower Goddess of the 2nd Month, Plum Blossom (梅花)

Plum blossoms burst into bloom on leafless branches, Scholar’s Courtyard Looking for Josie’s most recent post? Read the March Hort Tidbit. “The moonlight of a former time, How often has it shone on me?— I play on a flute by the plum tree, Awakening the fair one To pluck a sprig, defying the chill!” Dim Fragrance,…
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Cultural Spotlight: When 25 Years Meets 1000 Years

Happy New Year, friends! With the arrival of 2026, I have found myself doing what many of us do this time of year: reflecting on the past twelve months and asking, “What moments made this year feel meaningful?” There were so many incredible cultural milestones at Lan Su, yet one particular moment keeps rising to…
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Culture Spotlight: China Trip Chapter 2 – 不時不食: Eating with the Season in Suzhou

How is it already just days before Christmas? If you know me, holiday weeks always make me think about food, not just what we eat, but why we eat it. This is the time of year when tables get fuller, schedules get looser, and the fridge becomes a rotating cast of leftovers we swear we’ll deal with tomorrow. When it comes to…
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Hort Tidbit January 2026: The Floral Symbol of the First Lunar Month—Narcissus (水仙）

Elegant and pure, the narcissus is subtle but eye-catching Narcissus tazetta subsp. tazetta (crab-claw narcissus) forced in January The power of a forced bulb indoors! Although we, living in the 21st century, might assume our lives are tough while we’re trying to make it through the bleakest days of the year, I would argue that those who had to live by oil lamp and…
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Lantern Viewing Evenings return bigger and brighter in 2026 for Year of the Horse

Lan Su Chinese Garden is delighted to usher in the Year of the Horse with the return of one of Portland’s most enchanting winter traditions: Lantern Viewing Evenings. From February 18 through March 8, 2026, the garden will glow with radiant lantern sculptures, lively dragon dances, soothing musical performances, and an all-new projection-mapping light show…
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Hort Tidbit December 2025: Wintersweet (臘梅)

Beautiful yellow fall color reveals pale yellow blooms beginning on the much-loved wintersweet tree in the Fragrance Courtyard at Lan Su. The December cold has slowly crept in, seeping the garden in the feeling of winter truly on its way. Although most other flowers are long gone, Chimonanthus praecox, known more commonly as wintersweet or…
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Culture Spotlight: China Trip Chapter 1—Suzhou Gardens Behind the Scenes

This special edition of Culture Spotlight will be a four-part series sharing takeaways from a recent trip to our sister city, Suzhou. Enjoy! I’m writing to you just days before Thanksgiving, with the glow of a recent journey still warming me like a little lantern I’m carrying home. This fall, I spent 17 days traveling through four cities in China…
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Culture Spotlight: These are not your grocery store mums

I’ll be honest—I didn’t always get the hype about chrysanthemums. That changed the first autumn I worked at Lan Su Chinese Garden. I walked into the garden one crisp morning and found myself surrounded by chrysanthemums in every imaginable form…
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Culture Spotlight: No Kicks, Just Cups: The Joy of Gong Fu Tea

When people hear Gong Fu, their minds often jump to martial arts, but here there are no flying kicks involved. In the world of tea, gong fu (功夫) means “skill through effort.” It’s not about combat, but about care: The art of brewing tea with patience, focus, and heart. Every pour is a gentle reminder…
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