Chinese Garden of Friendship – Sydney – an exquisite garden in the middle of the city

Chinese Garden of Friendship is located close to Chinatown in Sydney. It is only a short walk from the nearest light rail station. The main entrance to this garden is to its west.

The main pavilion overseeing the lake and rest of the garden

Highlights	The garden is picturesque, serving a great venue for couples. It could even serve as a venue for wedding photos.
Cost	$12 for adults $8 for children $30 for family
Location	Pier Street, Corner Harbour St, Darling Harbour NSW 2000
Website	https://www.darlingharbour.com/precincts/chinese-garden

The garden is accessible with prams and wheelchairs, but the back section where people can climb the steps towards the main pavilion cannot be reached other than by foot. For the most part, you can see the entire garden a few steps from the entry. When you do, it’s becomes an incredible sight, because it’s like an oasis in the middle of a very busy, bustling city. The walls that surround this garden ensure that only the best views are for those that walk through the entrance.

Koi fish and waterfall at a lake to the west of the main pavilion as people head up

Entry prices are $12 for adults and $8 for children. It is quite expensive for a smaller garden, but I can see that there is a lot of upkeep and staff required to keep this garden looking immaculate and tidy. For example, there were quite a number of gardeners cleaning the ponds of debris and removing weeds along the main paths. Still, it is expensive considering other gardens I’ve visited in Australia, such as Alowyn Gardens in Melbourne, and overseas offer much more views and things to do, such as Sankeien in Yokohama and Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.

Lily pads float above the water's surface — Lily pads float above the water’s surface

You can take part in the tour that runs at various times of the day where they explain the history of the garden and how it is maintained and preserved. On the day I visited, there was about 15 people that took part.

The garden itself is very pretty and picturesque. I can imagine many couples visiting the garden for photos or even pre-wedding photos given proximity to the city.

This garden makes for great couples photos

Be careful walking along the paths, there are roaming lizards all over the garden. They don’t attack and don’t mind people getting close to them either.

One thing you can do it try to capture a photo of your better half while they are standing at the main pavilion. The photos are much better from the ground, up because of the lake and main pavilion in the frame. While the photos from the top at the main pavilion don’t have the same appeal.