The most celebrated classical Chinese garden in Shanghai, is located in the north of the old town and links to Yuyuan Market.It was constructed in the period of Emperor Jiajing's rein of Ming dynasty from 1559 and completed in 1577. It has a history of more than 400 years.
Yuyuan began as a private garden created by Pan Yunduan, who spent almost 20 years - and all of his savings - to build a garden in order to please his parents in their old age. That is why he called this garden "Yuyuan" - because "yu" in Chinese means "peace and health". Later, due to the decline of the Pan family, the garden gradually fell into disuse. Furthermore, several civil conflicts in the mid-19th century caused great damage to it. After several large-scale re-constructions since 1949, Yu Yuan was finally opened to the public in 1961. Now Yuyuan Garden attracts countless visitors at home and abroad every year.
The present-day Yuyuan occupies an area of two hectares (5 acres) and is built in a style associated with the renowned Suzhou gardens, which are characterized by an exquisite layout, beautiful scenery and artistic architecture. Each pavilion, hall, stone and stream in the garden expresses the essence of South China's landscape design from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
There are totally more than 30 scenic spots scatter in this garden. Five-dragon-wall subdivide the garden into six spots including the Grand Rockery, the Ten Thousand-Flower Pavilion, the Hall of Heralding Spring, the Hall of Jade Magnificence, the Inner Garden, and the Lotus Pool.
The Grand Rockery is the most elaborate, venerable and glorious rockery in southeastern China. Approximately 2,000 tons of stone were used to build this 14-meter-high rockery, which features perilous peaks, cliffs, winding caves and gorges, all designed to give people a sense of visiting a real, great mountain.
To the east of the Ten Thousand-Flower Pavilion is the Dragon Wall. The white wall is decorated with a dragon's head and paved with scale-like tiles, creating the illusion that a huge, wandering dragon cruises in the garden, keeping it safe and peaceful. The dragon was designed with only four claws, not five like the dragons in the royal palaces, as a way of avoiding irreverence and rebellion in the feudal society.
The Hall of Heralding Spring is located in the eastern part of Yuyuan garden. This pavilion was 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 (the Xiaodao Hui), which led an uprising against the Qing dynasty and occupied Shanghai for 17 months. Today, weapons and coins made by the Society of Little Swords are exhibited in this hall. The Shanghai city government named it the Callan Educational Base in 1994.
Yuyuan Garden is a representative of the classical architectural style and is acknowledged as an architectural miracle in the region southeast of the Yangtze River.
