The Chinese Plum Garden () is a botanical garden on
Lake Tai
Taihu (), also known as Lake Tai or Lake Taihu, is a lake in the Yangtze Delta and the third largest freshwater lake in China. The lake is in Jiangsu province and a significant part of its southern shore forms its border with Zhejiang. With ...
in
Jiangsu
Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. It is most prominent in spring when 4000 fruit trees blossom in the park.
Rong's Plum Garden, often referred as "The Plum Garden", is most famous for its many types of old
plum
A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century.
Plums are ...
trees, newly imported and planted
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
tulip
Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different colour ...
s, as well as the old mansions of the
Rongs family in
Eastern China
East China () is a geographical region in the People’s Republic of China, mainly consisting of seven province-level administrative divisions, namely the provinces (from north to south) Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, a ...
. It is located in the west part of
Wuxi
Wuxi ( zh, s=无锡, p=Wúxī, ) is a city in southern Jiangsu, China. As of the 2024 census, it had a population of 7,495,000. The city lies in the southern Yangtze delta and borders Lake Tai. Notable landmarks include Lihu Park, the Mt. Lings ...
city,
Jiangsu province
Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fifth most populous, with a population of 84. ...
, China.
History
The garden was the old site of a house of
Xu Dianyi who was a
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
scholar. In 1912 Wuxi Entrepreneur
Rong Desheng the father of
Rong Yiren purchased the land for the purpose of "Spread Fragrance to the World" and planted some 3000 plum trees. Because of the varieties of plum trees the place was named "The Plum Garden".
The garden circles Rong's previous mansion and leans up against Mt. Longshan. Inside gardens the old owner Rong and nowadays Plum Garden management office set up ''Tianxin'' stage, ''Xixin'' spring, ''Qingfen'' pavilion, ''Nianqu'' pagoda (), ''Zhaohe'' pavilion, ''Xiaoluofu'', ''Songbin'' hall, ''Huoran'' cave and ''Kaiyuan'' temple. The Nianqu pagoda was set up in 1930 for remembrance of 80th birthday of the dead mother of brother Rong Desheng and
Rong Zongjing. It is the highest point of the plum garden and best place for watching blooming plum trees all over. Starting from Rong's family, The Plum Garden was called one of the three best places for appreciating plum trees in
Jiangnan
Jiangnan is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including the southern part of its delta. The region encompasses the city of Shanghai, the southern part of Jiangsu ...
, together with plum trees in Mt. Dengwei of
Suzhou
Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce.
Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...
and Mt. Chaoshan of
Hangzhou
Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...
.
In 1955, Rong Yiren donated whole garden (except for the private mansion) to the country. In 1960, the garden expanded to Mt. Hengshan of Wuxi, making its area more than 860 acres. In 1994 the garden was listed as "Wuxi heritage protection unit". In 2006 it was listed as "
Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level".
Gallery
File:Wuxi Meiyuan Xianghaixuan.jpg , Inside Xiangxue pavilion
File:Gumei Qishi Meiyuan.jpg, Entrance of Old Plums and Peculiar Stone museum (),
See also
*
List of Chinese gardens
This is a list of Chinese garden, Chinese-style gardens both within China and elsewhere in the world.
Greater China
This list is organized by region within the Greater China region, roughly following the structure laid out by Maggie Keswick in '' ...
References
External links
Wuximeiyuan.com: official Wuxi Plum Garden website (无锡梅园网站)
Gardens in Jiangsu
Botanical gardens in China
Tourist attractions in Wuxi
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