In Europe, traces of China lie hidden in plain sight.
Chinese aesthetics have left an indelible mark on European culture, a legacy that has been shaped by generations of tradition and trade.
From the gilded cornices of the Palace of Versailles to the silk merchants of Venice, this series will explore how an insatiable hunger for Chinese art birthed distinctive styles that came to dominate their genres.
The influences can be traced back to the aspirations of European nobility, gradually filtering down to gain widespread popularity among the masses.
Today, these Chinese aesthetics have helped define many of Europe's unique cultural traditions.
Welcome to Traces of China
Gardens
Rock, water, building: When nature replaces order
The earliest record of Chinese garden design was in 500 BC in the city of Suzhou, often referred to as the birthplace of classical Chinese gardens. Principles developed in Suzhou soon spread across China, and onto the rest of the world.
Before the influences and practice of Chinese design reached British shores in the 18th century, English gardens were built around the rigid geometry and controlled symmetry of the French and Italian styles. This formality was revolutionized by Chinese garden design principles, which sought to bring natural landscapes into the garden space.
The Chinese approach wasn't about imposing geometric order but distilled the essence of nature's grandeur into intimate spaces.
"Chinese gardens are supposed to mimic the whole of nature. So that's why you need water, because you need a lake. You need mountains so you have stones, and you need flowers and buildings as well."
Colin and Penny's "Garden of 10,000 Shadows" is set on a steep chalk hillside with a beechwood as backdrop. It features Chinese 'rooms' separated by walls, hedges and gateways and also includes a Chinese pavilion.
Gardens imitating art: The Scroll of a Thousand Miles of Rivers & Mountains
Chinese garden design is heavily influenced by Chinese landscape painting, and this is most apparent in the Scroll of a Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains, a 12m-long masterpiece considered to be one of the greatest achievements in Chinese art history.
"Once you've seen this, you'd really start to make philosophical connections between Chinese landscape painting and Chinese gardens."
"These elegant lines are more difficult than the straight lines. You really have to train your hands and also have to train your eyes," says Dr Yang.
In January 2025, Dr Yang was awarded one of the highest British honours, an OBE – The Order of the British Empire.
A view, borrowed then adapted
Steadily the principles that underpinned the Chinese garden started to permeate the British consciousness. One of these is the idea of the borrowed view, where a garden benefits from a backdrop or landscape beyond its own limits. It is widely used in British landscape planting but is ultimately inherited from the Chinese tradition.
"There's a whole science attached to this."
"You have distant borrowed views, which are mostly mountains. You have adjacent views which could be other buildings. And the idea is you make use of objects which can be seen, which are actually beyond the garden itself. But you calculate very precisely where to put your garden features to make use of those distant views. So instead of everything being laid out like a geometrical pattern you've got a much more natural garden with a sequence of surprises," says Conner.
Urban drift: Chinese plants set seed in the British cityscape
A love affair which bloomed originally in the grand estates of the aristocracy gradually filtered into Britain's urban spaces.
When you encounter Chinese plants in a city setting, their impact on the British planting palette is perhaps most evident. Shrubs that seem so "quintessentially British" like camellia, hydrangea and chrysanthemum are all of Chinese origin, and would have been welcome guests when they first appeared in British urban areas.
"Think of Georgian London as being sort of, you know, brick colored. And then the Chinese plants, all of those would bring color that you've never seen before."
Seeds would first be exchanged between British and Chinese traders. The Chinese plants would then make their way to the UK on East India Company ships from Canton.
"Nature is public by definition," says Goodman, while stood on a London street surrounded by the scent of jasmine and potted plants, both of which have their origins in China.
"You relate to the garden the way you relate to your philosophy of life. The pathway is a meander through life, not just a pathway through the garden. You have energy flows. The qi that's running through you is also running through the plant. And so you become one with nature. But it's nature on your terms," he says.
