XIHUI PARK

The park is nestled at the foot of the Huishan hills. The Dragon Light Pagoda (Longguang Ta) marks the apex of the park. It offers an interesting view of the city and Lake Taihu in the distance.

The Jichangyuan garden is one of the four most beautiful gardens of the Bas. Qianlong, the fourth emperor of the Qing (1644-1911), had a taste for the journey and loved the region of the Bas-Yangtze, a country of canals, lakes and rivers. He went seven times to Wuxi during his life and wouldn't have anything in the world to go to the Huishan hills during his stay. Impressed by the beauty of the Jichangyuan garden, the emperor makes a replica of the garden in the summer palace (Yiheyuan) and the Name Yuan (the garden of harmonious interest).

The Town of Wuxi was very marked by the visits of Qianlong and still retains numerous stelas of the Emperor's hand (in the pavilion of the Imperial Stelas: Yubei Ting). On the heights of the park, the remains of the Temple Huishan: an important place of Buddhist Worship in the region founded during the Southern Kingdoms more than 1 500 years ago and constantly developing during the following dynasties. Emperor Kangxi of the Qing went there in person in 1864. The temple was almost completely destroyed during the Taiping rebellion (1860). Today, only a few architectural elements attest to the existence of this large ensemble, many reconstructions were carried out a few years after Liberation, in 1954: entrance gate (Guhuashan Men), Jingang (Jingang Dian), Moon and Sun basin (Riyue Chi). Near the temple is the second of the best hot springs of China (Dier Quan), dating back to the Tang period (618-906).

Just next door, a former tea house (Zhulushan Fang) serves the best wines of the region revealed by this extremely pure water, discovered by Lu Yu, a tea expert from the Tang Dynasty.