September 6, 2011

Zhu Family Garden of Jianshui (Yunnan)

"Large and magnificent buildings like the private Garden of the Zhu family are now rarely seen in China. "


And I am one of the specially blessed people who could have a chance to visit this place. We voted 7/7 to see this place for a day. It was one special day in my life and mind you this special Qing Dynasty Garden  is better than any film studio or modern garden in Asia!

Going through the different sections make me feel that I was actually participating in a Zhang Yi Mou or Ang Lee film which was being made about 19th century China!! So many parts of the "living museum" were fantastically preserved and/or refurbished. You can also google it and perhaps choose to stay in this "hotel" for two or three nights.



The Private Garden of the Zhu Family lies in Jianshui Street, Jianshui county, has a total area of 20,000 square meters and a floor space of 5,000 square meters, This grand complex is a typical local residence with distinctive features .As it was built by Zhu Chaoying and his brother in the late Qing Dynasty.
One of the moon doors


  
Divided into dwelling houses and ancestral halls, the private garden has layout of "vertically, three courtyard houses and horizontally, four” and "four small yards attached to one big yard" .Altogether there are 42 yards . With the well arranged yard and well furnished room and halls, the structure of the architecture can be described as "streamlined " .On the left side and near the street are 13 suspending houses and the right side are the ancestral halls that face a pool, a sate and pavilions .Poems and pictures are carved on the stone banisters around the pool.
  In the center of the garden there is a flower hall the two sides of which are called "xiulou”, a place where ladies lived. The place in front of the flower hall is naturally divided into two gardens .Rockeries and rice fields in the east garden and bamboo groves and flowers in the west garden reveal a typical style of a southern private garden. Thus is enjoys the fame "the Daguan Darden at a Border Town". 
This was where the Lord and the Lady of Manor would sit to welcome guests!!
The bedroom /  living quarters belonging to a daughter before she was married off.
Another reception area (you can see scenes of this in many Qing Dynasty era drama/movie)

Most of my friends felt that it was a visit worth all our money and the tour guide was very articulate and well versed with the history of this special mansion. If only we had more time we could have seen more and taken more photos. Besides we were a little hungry towards the end of the tour.
Jianshui also has western and halal cuisine so tourists need not worry about their food choices.
Perhaps one day I would go back there if the  eternity well in the garden can grant me that wish.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarawakiana,

I have been to private garden in Shanghai, Suchou actually. Very impressive. built by rich tycoon trading in silks. There are many channel in Suchou and on the bank of the lakes and channel are many such mansions. The one i went to has 4 seasons gardens, with 4 gazeboos on each side. During autumn, if u stand at one of the gazeboos, then u can see two moons, one in the sky and another in the lake (a lake in themiddle of the lake). During winter the colour is white and green (snow and evergreen conifer), red and green in Summer, blue, etc in Spring!! They have four gazeboos on each side of a square gardens where u can view landscape of 4 seasons with different colour themes!!! Really impressive.

Anonymous said...

I read somewhere that a rich man built a mansion and courtyard in one of the places in China for his three generation and that mansion was dismantled and transported piece by piece and then reconstructed at a museum in New York!!!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

a product of Govt's anti communist policy, I have never been to China. I must make a "Daughter for the return home " one day.

Ensurai said...

Dear Anonymous1
Thanks for the rich info about the Suchow gardens. Perhaps one day I will go and visit it ..now with the info in hand!
God bless.

Ensurai said...

Anonymous...well that man must be very rich...sounds like double cooked meat!! Build..dismantle and rebuild...Money can do that. And love too. Great guy.

Ensurai said...

Ann...Yes..you must go..Guangzhou is fantastic. You still have relatives there? Or put the word out and many will come and claim this Chan daughter.... Take care.

Anonymous said...

Hi Sarawakiana,

It was the rich man who moved the mansion to New york piece by piece and reconstructed it. It was a museum in Noew York whioch bopught the whole mansion to New York. Three generations stayed at the mansion but it now belongs to a New york museum. What a great museum u must say!!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, should be it wasn't the rich man who...

Ensurai said...

Ok...even then...that New York Museum needs a big applause from us...It was like some rich man who bought the London Bridge in 1962(?) or 1963(?)and put it in the USA had it built up piece by piece too....See how they value good relics.

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