Remembering a dear friend

She endured hardships in bringing up her son, who followed in his father's footsteps to become a physician. On her last trip back to China in 1992, she went to take a photo in front of Jardin Bussiere without entering.

Wu Sidan passed away in 2013.

I was impressed during this visit to see the improvement at the garden. From the watchtower, north house, south house and other major attractions, the background has been enriched with old photos, making my friends, who visited it for the first time, even more pleasantly surprised. The fragmented stories and anecdotes I had been intermittently telling them along the way now suddenly became alive and complete.

The three-story watchtower, originally intended for security purposes, was used by Bussiere as his clinic. Upon visiting each room in each floor, we could vividly picture the touching scene of Bussiere, with the help of Wu Sidan, concentrating on diagnosing and operating on village patients from the neighborhood.

The north house, built by the mountain, was the main living place of the owner at that time, and its apparent Chinese style fully reflects the owner's respect for the aesthetic traditions of Chinese architecture.

Looking closely at all the details of its design, one cannot fail to notice the exquisite Western architectural craftsmanship everywhere. In front of the house, there is the largest flat square in the garden, and opposite the ruins of a European-style fountain stands a large empty stone pillar scaffolding. We took photos there to commemorate the past of Jardin Bussiere, imagining how many Chinese and foreign celebrities had gathered under the cool shade of lush green vines, eating, drinking and discussing issues with great interest in a very relaxing atmosphere.