Yuyuan Joy Park
Description:
The Yuyuan Joy Park was founded during the Ming Dynasty in the late 16th century. It was created by Chinese official Pan Yuanduan. Filled with care for parents, Pan Yuanduan bought a large plot of land on which numerous pavilions and halls were built, courtyards and terraces were landscaped. Pan Yuanduan wanted his parents to grow old in the most beautiful place of all.
Joy Park "Yuyuan" several times changed owners. In 1842, it was badly damaged during the Opium War. Later, one of the pavilions housed a secret headquarters, where the leaders of the Taiping uprising were hiding.
Today’s Yuyuan Park is the result of restoration work in 1987. The workers tried to give the park exactly the look it had several centuries ago.