Lasdon Park & Arboretum Chinese Pavilion

Located in Westchester county, New York, the Lansdon Park & Arboretum is a small arboretum that contains a Chinese friendship pavilion. A sister city relationship established in 1997 with Jinzhou, China was the impetus for the building of a Chinese garden, a 4 acre site along a pond near the western end of the park.

The pavilion reflects a classical Chinese design and was built by a team of 80 artisans in China using traditional construction methods. The pavilion was then disassembled and shipped to the arboretum where it took a month to reconstruct.

Originally planned as a centerpiece to a larger Chinese garden, the garden area today is defined by a pond, a surrounding lawn, and a bamboo forest as a backdrop. There are also flowering cherry, dogwood, and willow trees nearby.

The pavilion and two large entry gates have been challenged by extreme climate over the years, and as a result, the Parks Department has had to regularly (every 5 years) restore the paint and wooden features of the structure. During this visit, the entry gates and pavilion were noticeably in need of some restoration.

Website: https://www.lasdonpark.org/tour-the-park-2/

There is a separate parking area at the park for the Chinese Pavilion trail. The trail to the pavilion follows along an interesting historic tree trail. Arriving at the main gate to the Chinese garden, one begins to notice the emergence of a large bamboo forest on either side of the trail.

A second entry gate exists at the north-western edge of the lake.

Overall, the Chinese Friendship Pavilion and the surrounding garden and pond area was a very peaceful and serene place to visit - a wonderful location for a picnic. 

I look forward to seeing another restoration and will most definitely visit again in the future.