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The first
It was the first Chinese garden built outside of Asia
The garden is in Vancouver's Chinatown. It was built in 1985 and 1986 and opened on 24 April 1986, in time for Expo 86, on what used to be fill-in land for rail industries.
Suzhou
Experts from Suzhou helped build the inner garden
Wang Zu-Xin was chief architect of the inner garden, with experts from the Landscape Architecture Company of Suzhou, China. Joe Wai and Donald Vaughan designed the outer park. The Chinese and Canadian governments and the local community paid for it.
The plants
Plants were chosen for when they blossom
Vancouver's winter climate is similar to that of Suzhou, so many of the same plant varieties grow here. They were chosen by their blossom schedules to emphasize seasonal changes, especially the awakening in spring, and are used sparingly.
Balance
Rocks stand for mountains and a pond holds the garden together
Classical Chinese gardens use the principles of Feng shui and Taoism, striving for harmony and a balance of opposites. Craggy rocks sit against delicate foliage. Large rocks are placed to represent mountains concealing and revealing park elements.
The name
Sun Yat-Sen stayed in Vancouver three times while raising funds
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen travelled the world to raise awareness of and funding for the Chinese nationalist movement. Chinese nationalists in British Columbia helped finance the Xinhai Revolution, which overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911.
Day 4, afternoon
It comes after Chinatown. Then Gastown steam clock.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.