Chinese Garden Of Serenity

Here, you’ll find the perfect venue to soak up some tranquillity in this wonderful public space. Its most striking elements are created from rocks and water, and the use of such base elements is intended to transport you to the basic elements of nature, yin and yang. Or at least that’s how it works if you believe the official blurb!

That description will also tell you that on entering the garden you will go through a ‘personal renaissance’. This apparently happens as you pass a fountain representing the figure of birth and, as a result, leave the stress of modern life behind.

OK, so the whole experience is unlikely to feel quite so euphoric for the average and less-spiritual man or woman but all waffle aside, this is a jolly nice place to have a sit down, read a book or just spend some time chilling out. And more importantly, all this spiritual healing costs you nothing - admission is free!

The garden is situated on the outskirts of Santa Lucija, which is not the most lively town at the best of times and so a good location for a Garden of Serenity. Its various sections, beds and fountains were laid out in the early 1990s.

Now back to the ‘blurb’, where we learn that here, life, with all its challenges and strife, is represented as a winding corridor at the northern end of the garden. The bamboo shoots are intended to represent contemplation and the great hall represents community. 

The courtyard with accompanying fishpond, rock garden, and circular door takes you to a magical place, where even the most cynical, those who scoff at the kind of spiritual guff delivered above, cannot help but be moved by the peace this garden delivers.

Admittedly, stumbling across an oriental haven of tranquillity like this might not be what you’d expect to happen on a Mediterranean island known for its devout Christianity. But as it’s here, you might as well make the most of it and it goes to show that the Maltese people are open to new ideas. This country never fails to surprise you.

Irrespective of how much you think this place might affect your energy flows, chakras, aura or anything else, the Chinese Garden of Serenity provides an ideal environment in which your creativity can blossom. Use its inspirational environment to sketch its lattice windows, read a good book, your favourite poems, or simply reflect on the ripples left by a passing fish.

Alternatively, if you want somewhere away from the noise where you can sit with a bottle of water and recover after guzzling a few-too-many Cisks the night before, then this place on a shady bench is probably your best bet.

Santa Lucija is easy to get to on public bus services and you can find the relevant numbers and their timetables by visiting Arriva’s Malta site. To get there under your own steam then you need to head south from Valletta and you’ll find Santa Lucija just beyond Marsa.