A Chinese garden at the British Museum

The Chinese garden has always been a place for contemplation and quiet. The elements of the Chinese garden invite one to rest the mind and forget the outside world, thus providing a refuge from the busyness of everyday living. That's exactly what the China Landscape exhibit at the forecourt of the British Museum hopes to be.

A collaboration between the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the living exhibit shows connections between China's natural habitat and culture. The plants we find in the garden – the trees, the shrubs and the flowers – are not only precious resources, they are symbols of Chinese culture as well.

Beauty and usefulness then were two criteria that the experts at Kew used when choosing what plants to include in the exhibit. A poignant note to China Landscape is that most of the plants are native to Sichuan, a province recently ravaged by an earthquake.

The exhibit also reflects the famous scholar's gardens of China by including the following elements:

Trellis. In Chinese gardens, architectural elements are as important as the plants that are put in. A trellis provides shade and a place for relaxation. The fragrant wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) covers the trellis in one corner of China landscape. An interesting sidenote: Chinese wisteria plants twine themselves anti-clockwise around the lattice, while the Japanese wisteria grows clockwise. If you try to twine the plant the wrong way, it will unwind itself.

Scholar's rock. Rocks that have been eroded by nature as well as streams and pools are another important element of the classical Chinese garden. Rocks symbolize mountains, long thought to bridge the gap between heaven and earth because of their height. The rocks in the garden are meant to be contemplated. One looks at the rocks and imagines climbing hills or entering mountain caves that are believed to be the home of immortal beings. The scholar's rock in China Landscape is a contemporary interpretation by Chinese artist Zhan Wang.

Rock with calligraphy. Because no Chinese landscape is complete without a touch of poetry, the exhibit has a rock inscribed with the characters for Jinghua Yuan (Flourishing China Park), the Chinese name for the exhibit. The name was chosen in a competition and the rock inscribed by calligrapher Zhao Yishou.

A glimpse of China Landscape

After the exhibit, many of the plants will be relocated by Camden Council to Brunswick Square and Kew Gardens. Here's a sampling of the plants on display:

Chusan palm. The Chusan fan palm (Trachycarpus fortunei) has been cultivated China for thousands of years. It is highly valued as a medicinal plant, as almost all parts of it can be used to cure different ailments. It is named after the Zhoushan islands, off the southeast coast of mainland China, which were once called Chusan.

The scholar's rock at China Landscape is by Chinese artist Zhan Wang. (Image: British Museum)Handkerchief tree. Fossil records show that the handkerchief plant (Davidia involucrata) has been in existence for millions of years. The handkerchief tree with its heart-shaped leaves gets its popular name from the creamy white bracts – modified leaves – that wrap themselves around small white flowers in the spring. They flutter like hundreds of handkerchiefs in the wind. Also known as the ghost tree or the dove tree, it was named after Father Armand David, a Franciscan missionary and naturalist based in China who first described the tree in 1869 and introduced it to Europe. Human encroachment on the plant's natural habitat means that the plant is now endangered. It is a protected plant species.

Bamboo. Bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea, Phyllostachys nigra) is an important part of the life and culture of the Chinese people. Because the bamboo bends in a storm but doesn't break, it has come to symbolize strength, integrity and personal virtue. Bamboo is used to make everything from chopsticks to scaffolding while its fibers are used for paper and fabric. Bamboo, which is a member of the grass family, is the fastest growing plant on earth, and the preferred food of the giant panda.

Ginkgo. The ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) is a living fossil – a species known from fossils and with no living relatives. They have been around since the time of the dinosaurs 200 million years ago and were saved from extinction through cultivation. Very few ginkgo trees live in the wild in China, and there is reason to believe that monks might have tended these few for more than a thousand years. Ginkgo trees are often seen in temple grounds because of their Buddhist association. The seeds and leaves have medicinal properties, reputed to cure everything from asthma to hangovers.

A part of China Now

China Landscape is being held in association with China Now, a six-month long festival of Chinese culture in the UK that runs until the end of July. “It is the largest festival of modern China that has certainly been held in the UK, we believe in Europe and possibly even in the world,” Simon Heale, chief executive of China Now, told Radio86 in an interview.

Simon Heale, chief executive of China Now (Image: China Now)The festival is run completely through private funding, although it enjoys government support and encouragement. The festival is chaired by Stephen Green, Group Chairman of HSBC Holdings plc.

Heale said that although the seeds of the idea for the festival were planted two years ago, 2008 was chosen because the Beijing Olympics gave the festival a flagship event to link activities to.

“We want to present as many aspects of modern China as possible. Most people's image of China is out-of-date and we want to get across the vibrancy and energy and rate of change.”

Education is a very important strand of the China Now festival. It has given grant to hundreds of schools to have Chinese cultural days and hold other activities to introduce China to the younger generation. “If we can engage the next generation, if we can get children and university students interested and motivated, things will flow on.”

China Landscape is at the British Museum Forecourt until 27 October. Admission is free. For more information about China Now, please visit their website.