A garden originally conceived by a governor to please his aging parents, today it is one of the top tourist attractions in Shanghai. Yuyuan Garden is a work of art combined with nature that is located in Shanghai. Though Pan Yuduan came up with the idea in 1559, he couldn’t start constructions till 1577.
While initially built in style and vey extravagant with the centre piece of the garden being a jade rock that was meant for the royal palace in Beijing, completing the garden caused a lot of financial stress for Pan. It was passed down the family but never really regained the original splendor. Purchased by outsider’s it was open to the public in the 1700s. Unfortunately the Opium war and Taipei Rebellion as well as Japanese encounters all caused much damage to the garden.
The Shanghai Government finally took over the responsibility to its former glory and opened it to the public in 1961, almost 2 decades later it was declared a national monument. Spanning 5 acres the garden is divided in to 6 main attractions each with its own uniquely exquisite pond, pavilion, hall or rockeries.
Sansui hall is where the grand rockery is. Standing 12 metres high, it’s not just a rock but has an intricate maze of caves, cliffs and gorges. Sansui hall which is an imposing 9 metre high structure has 5 halls in it. Wanhua chamber is known as the chamber of the ten thousand flowers is like its name suggests a delicate thing of beauty with elements of nature amidst it.
The Yuhua hall that is furnished with rosewood pieces from the Ming dynasty faces the jade rock. The rock was Pan’s favourite piece and has 73 holes. When you pour water from atop the rock it flows from each hole like tiny individuals waterfalls, when you light a joystick at the bottom smoke floats from every hole, making visitors gasp in delight.
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Umanga Kahandawaarachchi is a passionate travel writer who writes under the pen name, Maggie Tulliver. Her field of writing covers a wide array of content and articles related to travel and hospitality industry.
