Shanghai Gardens

Shanghai Gardens

Yuyuan Garden Add:　218 Anren Rd. Tel:　+86 21 63282465 Opening:　8:30-17:00     Yuyuan Garden, located in the center of the Old City next to the Chenghuangmiao in the city, is considered one of the most lavish and finest Chinese gardens in the region. The garden was reportedly first established in 1559 as a private garden created by Pan Yunduan, who spent almost 20 years building a garden to please his father Pan En, a high-ranking official in the Ming Dynasty, during his father's old age. Over the years, the gardens fell into disrepair until about 1760 when bought by merchants, then suffered extensive damage in the 19th century. In 1842, during the Opium Wars, the British army occupied the Town God Temple for five days. During the Taiping Rebellion the gardens were occupied by imperial troops, and damaged again by the Japanese in 1942. They were repaired by the Shanghai government from 1956-1961, opened to the public in 1961, and declared a national monument in 1982. Today, Yuyuan Garden occupies an area of 2 hectares (5 acres ), and is divided into six general areas laid out in the Suzhou style: ● Grand Rockery - rockery made of huangshi stone (12 m high), featuring peaks, cliffs, winding caves and gorges. Thie scenery was possibly created by Zhang Nanyang in the Ming Dynasty. This area also contains the Sansui (Three Corn Ears} Hall. ● Heralding Spring Hall (Dianchun) - built in 1820, the first year of the Emperor Daoguang's reign. From September 1853 to February 1855, it served as the base of the Society of Little Swords (Xiaodao Hui). ● Inner Garden - rockeries, ponds, pavilions, and towers, first laid out in 1709 and more recently recreated in 1956 by combining its east and west gardens. ● Jade Magnificence Hall (Yuhua) - furnished with rosewood pieces from the Ming Dynasty. ● Lotus Pool - with a zigzag bridge and mid-lake pavilion. ● Ten Thousand-Flower Tower (Wanhua) Garden areas are separated by "dragon walls" with undulating gray tiled ridges, each terminating in a dragon's head.     Guyi Garden Add:　218 Huyi Rd, Nanxiang town, Jiading District Tel:　+86 21 59122225 Opening:　6:00-17:30 Website: 　www.guyigarden.com     Located in Nanxiang Town, Jiading District, it was first built during the Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty (1573-1619). The trees and rockeries were arranged by the famous Ming bamboo carver Zhu Sansong. The garden is remarkable for historic sites and bamboos everywhere. In the garden we will find halls, pavilions, stone boats, waterside pavilions, ancient trees, rare flowers pebble paths and winding streams, all attracting visitors with their beauty and ingenious design. There are such scenic spots of the Hall of Pleasant Wilderness, Little Pine Mound, Little Cloudy Corner, Geese Playing Pond, Pavilion of Floating Clouds, Garden of Pine and Crane, Lake of Mandarine Ducks , Screen Wall of Nanxiang, Nine-cornered Zigzag Bridge , Plum Pavilion, Mid-lake Pavilion , plus a scripture stele of the Tang Dynasty and a stone pagoda of the Song Dynasty.     Qiuxiapu Garden Add:　314 Zhendong Street, Jiading District Tel:　+86 21 59531949 Opening:　8:00-16:30     Known as a “ Urban Garden ”, Qiuxiapu Garden used to be a private garden originally built in the Ming Dynasty, and the preserved halls, pavilions and fences are mostly structures of the Qing Dynasty. The Congguixuan Pavilion among clusters of sweet-scented osmanthus is the major landscape of the whole garden, where one can enjoy the scenes of four seasons.     Qushui Garden Add:　612 Garden Rd., Qingpu District Tel::　+86 21 59732996 Opening:　5:30-17:30     First built in 1745, the garden is centered on a pond with pavilions, terraces, chambers and bridges surrounding it, connected by long corridors and dotted with rockeries, pines and vines. There are 24 scenes in the garden, all in a quiet and peaceful atmosphere.     Pond of The Drunken Bai Add:　64 South Renmin Rd., Songjiang District Tel:　+86 2l 57814763 Opening:　8:00-17:00     It is a garden of the Ming Dynasty, built in 1644, consisting of the Inner Garden and the Outer Garden. The Inner Garden is the quintessence, with a square pond in the middle, surrounded by pavilions, terraces, chambers and waterside pavilions, impressing visitors with its beautiful scenery. On the walls of the long corridor there are tablets carved with the calligraphy by famous calligraphers and painters.     Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden Add:　3888 Chenhua Road, Songjiang District Tel:　37792288-800 Transport:　Metro Line 9 Dongjing Station, interchange Bus Line 19 Hours:　8:00 – 17:30 (Mar. 1 – Nov. 30) 8:00 – 17:00 (Dec. 1 – Feb. 28/29) Ticket:　40yuan     Located at Chenshan in Songjiang district, covers an area of 207 hectares, Chenshan Botanical Garden is a comprehensive garden consists of 4 function areas and 26 special gardens, including peony garden, Chinese rose garden, oil plants garden, gardens designed for blind people, etc. With the theme of “Plant and health”, Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden is designed not only to be a basement of botanical research and science popularization, but also an ideal scenic spot sightseeing tour.