The Seattle Chinese Garden held a Welcoming Party for the 21 artisans here to complete the work on the Knowing the Spring Courtyard. The artisans were welcomed with a lion dance, kite flying, Tony Au's International School of Martial Arts demonstrations, Chinese Children's Dances by the Melody Institute, and Chinese arts demonstrations.

CLICK THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE MORE IMAGES FROM THE EVENT.

Julia Yang, eminent in the field of Chinese flower arranging, demonstrated her beautiful floral art during the welcome party. Julia is founder of the Hua Yuan School of Chinese Floral Art and author of a book by the same name published in 1995. She demonstrates her art at workshops for Seattle Asian Art Museum and the Bellevue Botanical Garden and plans to teach a flower-arranging class for SCG beginning in the winter of 2011. With Julia's advice, the SCG will create a garden of plants used in traditional Chinese floral arrangements. Students in her class will be able to harvest the garden for use in their flower arrangements. Julia was assisted by Lily Chang, another talented woman passionate about this beautiful traditional art.

Our previous coverage of the garden construction is HERE.

When completed it will be one of the largest Chinese gardens in North America and one of the few outside China designed in the garden style of Schezuan Province. Visitors will enjoy a teahouse overlooking a lotus pond and a three story Floating Clouds Pavilion with views of the Cascade Mountains, the Olympic Mountains, Elliott Bay and downtown Seattle. A walkway, lined in bamboo, and a garden path alongside a rushing stream will lead visitors to a lake with open air pavilions.

For more information and directions to the site visit www.seattlechinesegarden.org