A classical Chinese garden in the heart of Washington – China society and culture news from April 28, 2017

A 12-acre field at the U.S. National Arboretum, two miles away from the U.S. Capitol, will be transformed into a Chinese garden with all the elements of a traditional Chinese landscape by the end of this decade, the Washington Post reports.

The lavish garden will feature peonies, a large central lake, and grand pavilions, most of which will be re-creations of historic gardens in Yangzhou, a city in Jiangsu along the Yangtze River built by wealthy merchants during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). To be named the National China Garden, the project has long been a dream of Chinese-American leaders in the United States, but it was not until China agreed to cover the entire bill of $100 million that the project was greenlighted.

When the panda Bao Bao returned to China four years after her birth at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., the need for a symbol of cultural exchange became especially evident. “The Chinese don’t have anything in Washington to put to use,” said Tom Elias, a former director of the arboretum and an early advocate of the garden project.  

• New scrutiny for Confucius Institutes / Inside Higher Ed
• China’s new approach to beating poverty / The Economist (paywall)
• Wealthy Chinese scramble for imperiled commodity: U.S. ‘golden visa’ / NYT (paywall)
• Documentary depicts ‘cultural assimilation’ of Tibetan students in coastal China / Asia Society
• Chinese film added to Cannes competition after conspicuous absence / China Film Insider
• Book review: In the last days of old Shanghai / LARB Blog