Yu Yuan Garden

Yu Yuan Garden was built over 400 years ago during the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644). The magnificent layout, picturesque landscapes and exquisite artistic style of architecture made it one of the main attractions of Shanghai.

Its name means “Garden of Joy”, or “Garden of Slow Rest”, and today it is truly a pastoral world inside a supermodern and troubled metropolis. This garden is located in the heart of the old city in Shanghai, a few blocks south of the Bund waterfront. There are many rocky places, trees, ponds, passageways, walls with dragon lines, winding bridges that separate the various garden sites and pavilions.

Yu Yuan Garden occupies a fairly large area and includes several halls and other interesting buildings. Cultural relics of the garden include: furniture, whose age exceeds one hundred years, samples of calligraphy and oil paintings made by famous artists, clay sculptures and brick carvings and various inscriptions.

One of the main attractions of the garden is the Magnificent Rock of Jade. This is a large porous 5-ton rock of bizarre shape, which is said to have been brought here from Lake Taihu in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.

There are many shops around the garden where you can buy traditional Chinese goods, as well as gold and jewelry.