Yangzhou | He Garden - The Premier Garden of the Late Qing Dynasty, Jixiao Mountain Villa

| He Garden - The Premier Garden of the Late Qing Dynasty, Jixiao Mountain Villa. Yangzhou | He Garden - The Premier Garden of the Late Qing Dynasty, Jixiao Mountain Villa The Premier Garden of the Late Qing Dynasty Jixiao - Leaning against the south window to express pride, ascending to the eastern heights to release a hearty sigh 🚩 Important Information 🔸Ticket Price💰: Adults 30, Students half-price (varies by peak/off-peak season, see image 3⃣ for details) 🔸Opening Hours: 7:30-17:30 (varies by season, see image 3⃣ for details) 🔸Suggested Visiting Time: 1.5h 🔸Address: 66 Xuningmen Street, Guangling District, Yangzhou City 🚩 Number One in the World 🔸The Number One Gallery in the World - The Fudao Back Gallery The garden is divided into four parts: the East Garden, West Garden, Residential Courtyard, and Pianshi Mountain House. The Pianshi Mountain House is located to the south of the East Garden, while the Residential Courtyard is surrounded by the East Garden, West Garden, and Pianshi Mountain House. The two-story connected buildings and the complex gallery within the garden are integrated with the residential buildings in front. 🔸The Number One Window in the World - The Assorted Flower Window Shaped like plum blossoms, crabapples, folding fans, and vases. Walking through them, one can enjoy the scenery along the gallery, with an extended view that is full of ancient charm 🔸The Number One Pavilion in the World - The Water Heart Pavilion The Water Heart Pavilion is one of the few water theatres in China. Over a hundred films and TV dramas, including 'Dream of the Red Chamber' and 'My Fair Princess', have been shot here. The Water Heart Pavilion's 'Spring and Autumn on the Pot' uses the myth of the celestial mountain Fanghu to enjoy the scenery, play with immortals, watch plays, and listen to music, which is wonderfully delightful 🔸The Number One Mountain in the World - The Rockery The Pianshi Mountain House is a unique masterpiece of rock stacking by Shi Tao, a great painter from the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, with a stone house hidden within its belly; the attached rockery is a group of rockeries over sixty meters long, stacked against the firewall behind the boat hall, with mountain paths above and a valley meeting below 🚩 Highlights 🔸Architecture: Unlike the symmetrical axis concept in foreign gardens, it adopts a natural approach, with pavilions, towers, and buildings irregularly scattered among the man-made or natural landscapes, aiming for the unity of heaven and man 🔸East Meets West: The main building of the Yuxiu Tower is two brick-and-wood structures, both traditional Chinese connected buildings and incorporating Western architectural techniques, see image 8⃣ 🔸Scenes of the Four Seasons: Spring for tender buds, summer for ripe greenery, autumn for red maples, winter for frost on branches. The scenes of the four seasons are different, and the joy is endless 🚩 The visitor center at the entrance has free stamps for visitors to use 🚩 Classical gardens are super photogenic for photography, it is recommended to wear modern Chinese-style clothing/Qipao ‼️ It is recommended to avoid weekends and holidays. I went on a Friday and there were not many people. Friends say that the experience is not good on Saturdays and Sundays because it can get very crowded, and sometimes you encounter noisy senior groups (no disrespect to the elderly intended) Some people ask how to choose between He Garden and Ge Garden My suggestion is: If you can only choose one, go to Ge Garden. He Garden is a bit small, and perhaps because of the late Qing residence + chaotic times + change of owners, the interior layout is a bit messy. Although East and West are combined, the integration is not very good, a bit abrupt 🔸He Garden to view the flower windows, corridors 🔸Ge Garden to see the rockery (the four-season rockery of spring, summer, autumn, and winter is not to be missed), and the architectural clusters of Ge Garden are very clear, with the residential area, rockery area, and Wanzhu Garden being well-planned (for individual notes on Ge Garden, please go to the homepage～) 🍬 Of course, it's better if you can visit both gardens