Montreal’s Chinese Gardens re-open after 3 years

For the past three years, the Chinese Gardens at the Botanical Garden have been getting a big face-lift.

On Thursday, the largest Chinese gardens outside of Asia were ready to show off their new shine for their official opening Friday.

Its seven pavilions were restored to their old splendor, just like they were when they opened back in 1991.

The intricate roof tiles were carefully refinished by specialized workers from Shanghai. Montreal craftsmen assisted in the job.

Their collaborative work showcases the friendship between the two sister cities, a constant theme throughout the garden.

“It was very emotional to have these two cultures -Chinese and Canadian Montrealers- come together and rebuild this magnificent garden cause it’s one of most popular gardens, the Botanical Gardens,” Charles-Mathieu Brunelle, Space For Life’s Director, told Global News.

In A Chinese Garden

The light was fading, the rain was falling and the leaves played like fish beneath one of the many pavillions that provide respite in the garden. Not a great many maples were still holding their leaves on this 1st day of December, but this little poser kindly obliged. Need sound? Give a listen to this story.

I am no indiscriminate city booster. And never mind that my voice is on the audio tour (snore). I have watched this garden grow and mature since its opening in 2000 and I now consider a good many of its plants my personal friends. As such, I can think of no other garden open to the public where it's absolutely always a good time to visit (OK, so skip it when it's crowded). Of course there are richer moments than others — particularly when fragrances float on the air — but the garden is simply too complex to reveal itself in any single day.

The last fruit on a persimmon tree as shown off by a shower of weeping willow and the peaked roofs that take wing throughout the garden. I like to think of them as directionals to more celestial planes.I fear you're going to want to know the name of the persimmon tree above. The number of Diospyros species is frightening so as of this writing I can't say for sure, except that because it's in the Chinese garden, it ain't going to be one of our native trees.