THERE is a Chinese saying that runs, “Above, there is heaven; below, there is Hangzhou and Suzhou.” The saying alludes to the legendary beauty of these two Yangtze delta cities: Hangzhou with its famous lake and Suzhou with its canals and celebrated classical gardens. The gardens of Suzhou are mostly very small, but they are made to appear large by cunning arrangements of twisting paths, each segment of which is hidden from the others by bamboo, dwarf trees and rocks of unusual texture and shape.
The designers of these gardens created a strikingly apt metaphor for Chinese society and government,…
