Serenity Springs a Leak

Like the urban gardens in China, the Chinese garden in Portland is surrounded by a white wall. The exterior wall around a Chinese garden blocks the views and noises of the busy city, allowing the naturalistic landscape in the garden to magically lull the visitor into believing he's in the midst of nature. Serenity follows. Any glimpse or hint of the unnatural will spoil this mood, which is why the wall is traditionally solid and its top edge is higher than a person's head.

The wall around Portland's Chinese garden, however, is perforated by openings called leak windows. City code dictated that pedestrians could not be subjected to the sight of a block-long blank wall. Thus, if you are a pedestrian you can look into a leak window and see a bit of nature. But if you paid money to experience nature, you would look out of a leak window and see the street, parking meters, street lights, cars, and learn that you can have monthly parking in the garage across the street for only $144. You might wonder why you paid money to see this while the pedestrian gets it for free.

Lest you think that the Chinese designer was an idiot for agreeing to install these leak windows, keep in mind that the designer planted trees, vines, and bamboos in front of and behind these windows to keep the city from intruding. Using plants as a screen was an elegant and effective solution that worked until the present gardeners started beavering away, "tidying up" and "opening up" the "plant material", especially those pesky plants blocking the exterior leak windows.

It is now almost impossible to find a place in the garden that does not offer at least a glimpse of old town/Chinatown, its grimy streets, and the buses, cars, and denizens that ply them. With the waterfall not working, the city noises add to the atmosphere of nature under siege. How ironic that the marketing materials enticing people into the garden promise to deliver on that wistful observation by an ancient Chinese poet that "most cherished in this mundane world is a place free from traffic."