Humble Administrator's Garden (Zhouzheng Yuan) is the largest garden in Suzhou, located in the northeastern section of the city, and one of the four most famous classical gardens in China. The garden's scenery is focused on a central pond with various buildings of pavilions, terraces, chambers, and towers located by the water or on hillocks in a natural, unsophisticated, and appropriate composition. The garden is most representative of Chinese classical gardens in the Ming Dynasty. It was laid out in 1513 by the censor, Wang Xiancheng, after his retirement from political life. He named the garden after an essay by Pan Yue of Jing Era, "On Idle Living,": "Building house and planting trees, watering garden and growing vegetables are the affairs (Zheng) of humble (Zhuo) people." After his death, his son gambled away the garden.

When Taiping troops occupied Suzhou in 1860, King Zhongwang picked this site and the neighboring buildings of the present historical museum as a residence as well as a center for his political activities. The entire grounds can be divided into three parts: eastern, central, and western. The central one is especially worth a visit. It centers around Yuanxiang Tang pavilion. Two artificial islands linked to each other in the lotus pond north of the pavilion are densely overgrown with bamboo plants and trees, creating the impression that the entire garden is floating on water. In the western part, Sanshiliu Yuanyang Guan Hall (the Hall of the Thirty-Six Mandarin Ducks, will attract the visitor's special interest. On the adjoining lake, one used to be able to see mandarin ducks--a symbol of marital faithfulness. Today, some of the mandarin ducks swim in a fenced-off part of the lake. West of the garden, there is a noteworthy bonsai exhibition and a teahouse.