YU GARDEN

Yu Garden dates back to the th century: It was erected under the Ming Dynasty by Pan Yunduan, a senior official based in Sichuan but originally from Shanghai, who wanted to honour his father Pan In. The realization of this 50 000 m ² set has asked for nearly twenty years of work. But the Pan family had to sell the property back in 1601, when the Pan Yuduan died: The garden changed hands several times and ended up being more or less abandoned. It was acquired in 1760 by a group of local businessmen who renovate it and use it as a seat of their trade guilds. Once again, work is about twenty years old. Barely completed, the garden is occupied by British troops. It is then heavily damaged by the opium wars and the Révolte rebellion. The Small Knife Secret society also installed its headquarters in the Diancun Tang Pavilion in 1853 during the uprising against the Imperial government. Repression against the sect goes hand in hand with new damage to the garden. However, the main buildings resisted the vicissitudes of history: The renovations begun in 1956 succeeded in making its splendour in the garden, open to the public from 1961.

More than 40 items of interest are listed in the garden. It consists of five large dragon walls, which divide space into six units each with their characteristics. The main attraction of the site, in addition to its calm (provided that it goes early in the morning to avoid crowds of tourists) and the harmony of pavilions inserted in landscaped spaces, is the massif of yellow rockeries created by Zhang Nanyang, a specialist in the art of the Ming Gardens. The whole was completely renovated by garden specialists during the 1980 s.