In the north gardens “tended to be laid out in more formal patterns” whereas in the south gardens “were based on illusion and what must be captured is the effect of infinitude” which tended to endow the gardens of the south with a certain irregularity.

Differences of perception in garden design manifested when Eastern and Western garden ideas met in a cultural exchange during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911):

“When the Jesuit fathers in Peking devised a western maze for the Qinglong Emperor, it was regarded as a barbarian novelty, and soon fell into disrepair after the Emperors death.”