I YuYuan Gardens are found within Nanshi, the old city of Shanghai, on the west bank of the Huangpu River. To get there you have to get off at the subway stop called YuYuan Garden.
Are the most famous gardens in the city and it is believed that they were built over 400 years ago during the famous Ming dynasty. Once you enter it seems to be in a movie, they are the typical Chinese gardens as we imagined them, or seen on the big screen, or even in a painting. There are the bridges, the ponds, the rocks, the sculptures, the dragons, the weeping willows, the golden carp, the lush flowers and the typical buildings with those particular roofs. The gardens are truly impressive, cover an area of about 2 hectares, have more than 40 attractions within them and are surrounded by a wall dominated by a dragon. They are also divided into six areas connected by driveways and bridges.
There are some points that are particularly worth visiting: the Great Rockery "mountain range", the Tower of Ten Thousand Flowers, the Hall that announces Spring, the Hall of the Three Ears of Wheat and the Exquisite Jade stone, a stone of weight of more than 5 tons which is said to have been found more than 1000 years ago and was owned by the Song Emperor. Inside some of these rooms you will find beautiful sculptures, very special furniture and some calligraphy and engravings.
It is really nice to get lost in it, even if the tourists are really many, in fact, if you can choose, I suggest you visit them early in the morning and in any case during the week.
Entry to the YuYuan Garden, also known as the Gardens of Happiness, costs 30RMB, just over € 3,50. You will find the main entrance on Anren Lu at house number 218. Of course there is also a shop dedicated to YuYuan Gardens where you can find many Chinese sculptures.
