Which is better to visit in Portland--the Chinese Gardens or the Japanese Gardens?

The Chinese Gardens are nice, but much smaller than the Japanese Gardens. If you go to the Japanese Gardens, you're also right there at the famous rose garden.

they are both very intersting in different ways. the chinese gardens are downtown, while the japanese gardens are in the park. I guess if I was going to see one i would go for the jaPanese gardens, but i would encourage you to see both.

Then there's the rhododendron garden on the east side, and the aforementioned rose garden in Washington Park. All are worth a visit, depending on time of year.

Japanese or Chinese both are an experience in themselves, recommend the Japanese Gardens in the early part of the day, in late afternoon many of the beautiful areas are in shadow. While the Rose garden is free there is a charge for the Japanese Garden, as well as the Chinese Garden, which is in Chinatown in downtown Portland.

I've been to both recently (I live in Portland). If you can do only one, I'd probably go to the Japanese Garden. But the two gardens are very different styles; a lot depends on your personal preferences.

You can see the International Rose Test Garden near the Japanese Garden too, depending on when you visit. Last week the Rose Garden was still quite in bloom, but we've had lots of great weather in September til today (rain and colder temperatures).

Andrew

If you go to the Chinese Garden, be sure to take the guided tour. The place is pretty enough to look at with or without the tour, but learning the significance of the building materials, the symbolic motifs, the plantings, and the layout of the garden makes for a much richer experience.

But by all means, try to see the Japanese gardens and the rose gardens, too. The rose garden is one of our favorite places in all of Portland when the roses are in bloom.

There was a story in the Sunday NYTimes about the Japanese Garden. They said some say it is the best Japanese garden outside of Japan.