Shanghai Yuyuan Garden

Yuyuan is the most famous garden in Shanghai. It is located in the heart of Shanghai's Old City, one of the few existant old tourist places in Shanghai. Close to the gardens is Shanghai's bazaar, a great number of small streets and lanes where vendors sell their products and food stuffs to the tourists and local people. It is called garden "Yuyuan" - because "yu" in Chinese means "peace and health"-- a place of peace and comfort in the heart of busy Shanghai. It can date back to the Ming Dynasty. Now a hot tourist destination, Yuyuan Garden was first built as a private garden created by Pan Yunduan. He used almost 20 years and all of his savings to construct a garden in an attempt to please his parents in their high ages.

In the past over 400 years, Yu Yuan was restored and reopened several times. it was once in a mess. Because of the downside of Pan's family after Pan Yuduan's death, Yu Yuan was slowly out of use. Although later the garden was renovated by the local rich people, several civil wars in the mid-19th century caused huge damage. In 1956, after Shanghai's liberation, the city government rebuilt the garden and recovered its elegance and beauty as in the old days. Yuyuan Garden was at last reopened to the public in 1961. The our government declared it a national monument in 1982. Now Yuyuan Garden attracts a huge neumber of visitors at home and abroad each year.

Main atteactions in Yu Yuan Garden:

Once named "Leshou Hall", the Sansui Hall was constructed with five spacious rooms in Qing Dynasty style to entertain his guests. Later it was served as kind of celebration and announcement of imperial edicts.

The Grand Rockery, made by Zhang Nanyan, a famous rockery artist in Ming Dynasty, is regarded as the best treasure of the Yu Garden and the best rockery in South China.

The Exquisite Jade Rock standing before the Yuhua Hall is one of the three most famous rocks in China. The other two are "Ruiyun Rock" in Liu garden, Suzhou and "Zhouyun Rock" in Hangzhou flower nursery.Elegantly shaped, the Exquisite Jade Rock is about 4 meters high. It is a piece of featuring rock from Lake Tai in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. It is featured by its wrinkled appearance, slender shape, transparent nature, and lots of holes due to the eroded by water.

It is a stone exhibition show holding a great number of stone sculptures and engravings. It is loved by tourists for its visual arts and human values.