[Photo/Xinhua]

After a five-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens finally opened to great fanfare on Friday with the unveiling of its newly expanded and completed traditional Chinese garden Liu Fang Yuan, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance.

"We are delighted to be able to welcome visitors to explore these exquisite new features that further demonstrate the beauty and depth of Chinese cultural and landscape gardening traditions," says Karen R. Lawrence, president of the Huntington in a statement.

"The debut of these new sections of the Chinese garden coincides with the conclusion of the Huntington's yearlong centennial celebration, and symbolically opens a new chapter in the institution's history," Lawrence adds.

Stephen, a college professor in Los Angeles who was a guest at the opening, says that the garden is "like a living cultural ambassadorship for Chinese culture".

"The harmony of the garden as a whole, the sense of balance within it, its peace and tranquility－all come together in unique and beautiful ways in its traditional Chinese landscapes."