Solid Rock, Human Transience (The Huntington 2)

Organic blend: Chinese garden at the Huntington

The Chinese garden at The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino (L.A. county) is a magical place. It blends the man-made and the natural, architecture with trees, straight lines and curves, all in an organic way.

Last week, as I was wandering the cobbled paths of the garden I decided to take a closer look at some of the rocks. I got to my knees, admired the shades of white and grey, the undertones of purple, green, and red; I let my hand glide over the limestone's spurs, cracks, and sharp edges, felt the coolness of the rock against my skin, its enduring solidity against my human transience - and decided to look up some facts.

Spurs and cracks: 50 Chinese stone workers flew in to carve the stone

Transplants in L.A.: 850 tons of rock

The limestone rocks in the Huntington's Chinese garden are transplants. They were imported from Lake Tai in the Yangtze Delta in China. According to an article in the Los Angeles Times the Huntington shipped in 850 tons of stone. 50 Chinese stone workers flew in to carve and lay the stone.

The rock was carved? Well, there goes its enduring solidity.

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