Welcome to the beautiful and historic Japanese Tea Garden, the oldest public Japanese Garden in the United
States. This garden provides visitors from around the world the opportunity to experience
the natural beauty, harmony, and tranquility of a Japanese style garden in the heart of
San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.
As you can see the garden has a wide variety of plants here, there's 100 species most of
which are from Japan and China and there are 7 different kinds of bamboo as well as some
Californian native plants.
The trees are pruned to the human scale so as you walk through the garden you relate
on a human level
One of my favorite sections of the Garden is Maple Lane, here you can see a growth of
gorgeous Japanese maples, surrounded by a dark bamboo backdrop. This area is especially
beautiful in the fall when the leafs start changing colors.
Just around the corner, from Maple Lane is the Zen garden, the traditional rock garden,
the gravel is artfully raked in patterns that revoke waves like the ocean, an art dating
back to 3000 BC, the tranquil nature of the garden encourages meditation and serenity,
due to the Zen-like atmosphere. At the very least it provides a calming, stress relieving
experience.
This is no ordinary bridge, it's called a drum bridge, and it's reflection makes a perfect
circle in the pond water
The bridge is made of redwood, fur and oak and cedar. The high arc style makes it easy
for boats and tall prows to pass under.
The newly refurbished tea house is nestled in the center the Japanese Tea Garden. It's
a great place to eat and chill as you enjoy your tea and refreshments and take in the
view of the garden. If you wish you can experience the rich cultural tradition that celebrates
the preparation serving and drinking of powdered tea or Macha, and your host dressed in
a kimono and trained in Emoto Sankay style of tea ceremony will demonstrate how to clean
special utensils, and present the macha, and as well how to receive and drink the tea in
keeping with the ancient Japanese custom.
the art of the tea ceremony, once available only to Japanese priests and nobility is completely
accessible to you, here at the tea house, in the Japanese Tea Garden.
Located just across from the tea garden is the awesome Segway tours. And there are two
ways to use the Segway scooter to venture through Golden Gate Park, tour or rental,
in the company of a guide who can whiz through the tour on a selected attraction, such as
the Conservatory of Flowers.
Segway's are a safe and eco-friendly way to experience Golden Gate Park,check it out!
Visit it at electrictourcompany.com or stopping by after your tour of the tea garden and it
is a great way to play in the park.
This way, you can chill in a Japanese garden, eat and drink in tea house and play on the Segway here in the vast Golden Gate Park.