An authentic Chinese garden in Los Angeles has become a base for teaching Chinese culture under a program funded by the U.S. Department of State.

A group of 12 students in an intensive language class offered by Teaching Chinese Resources of the StarTalk program concluded their 5-week summer language classes Tuesday by giving tours in Chinese and English of the Huntington's Garden of Flowing Fragrance, or Liu Fang Yuan in Chinese.

The program is designed to encourage more Americans to learn critical languages such as Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Persian and Urdu.

The 12 students have spent about three hours every day in the past five weeks to explain the meaning of different structures in the garden to hundreds of visitors who came to visit the largest Chinese garden in Southern California.

Steven Liu, a Chinese student from the nearby San Marino High School , said he was born in the United States, but he has attended Chinese schools to learn Chinese in the past eight years.

"My parents want me to learn the Chinese language and know more about the Chinese culture. I have learned quite a lot here in the past five weeks," said Liu.

For example, he said, there are many pine trees in the garden, and "I learned that Chinese like pine tree because it symbolizes the character of perseverance and courage under hard conditions. People like bamboo because it is evergreen and would bend under strong wind but would never break, that's the spirit of endurance."

The five-week program is offered free of charge to local high school students. As students worked to improve their Chinese language skills, they also received training to give bilingual tours in the garden.

Tuesday's presentation by the 12 students showed that they are able to lead groups of visitors around the garden and explain to them, both in Chinese and English, the cultural significance of the garden and its features.

Garden of Flowing Fragrance formally opened to the public in February 2008 after many years of construction by Chinese architects.

The garden's first phase construction, which costs US$18.6 million, was powered by a landmark partnership between the Huntington Library and the region's fast-growing and increasingly influential Chinese American community.

Since the garden first opened to the public, it has become a base to teach the Chinese language and Chinese culture, said Sue Lafferty, Director of Education from the Huntington Library where the Chinese garden is situated.

Besides the five-week summer language class, at least one class would be opened in each month to focus on the Chinese culture such as the Chinese painting or Chinese art.

Lafferty said thousands of people have visited the Chinese garden, and to her surprise, many Chinese have come to visit the garden, which she thinks is good because they can learn more about the Huntington Library.

"It is a two way learning," She said.

Lafferty said the Huntington Library is going to start construction of the second phase of the Chinese garden once the initial fundraising goal of 4 million dollars is reached. However, she said, the total budget for the second phase will reach 22 million dollars.

To make the Chinese garden authentic, construction of the second phase will be completed by architects from China, she said.

She pointed at the rocks in the lake and tiles of the roof and said that those were 100 percent manufactured in China.

The Chinese garden's first phase includes a 1.5-acre lake, seven pavilions, five hand-carved stone bridges and a canyon waterfall set against a scenic backdrop of the San Gabriel mountains .

The Huntington Library, founded in 1919 by Henry Huntington, is one of the world's greatest cultural, research and educational centers. Nearly half a million people from all over the world come to visit the library every year.

More than a dozen specialized gardens are arranged within the park-like lawns in the library. The Desert Garden, the Japanese Garden, the Rose Garden and the Chinese Garden are the most remarkable ones.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2009)