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Yu Yuan Garden was first built in 1559 with an area of some 2 hectares. It appears much larger on account of skilful landscape gardening - with paths winding through charming pavilions, delightful grottoes, beautiful lotus ponds, quaint bridges and trickling streams. The art of decoration also finds expression in the brick engravings and wood carvings everywhere in the garden which reflect the style of typical architecture of southern China in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The beautiful scenery can be compared with the four famous gardens in Suzhou.
No less than forty picturesque and fascinating scenes are found here. There are altogether five dragon walls in the garden, each with a different posture, seperating different sections of scenery in the garden. The Spring Hall in the garden was once made the headquarters of the Small Sword Society during its armed uprising in 1853. It is one of the major government - protected cultural sites.
The famous Town God's Temple (Chenghuang Miao) lies in the south of Yu Yuan Garden. It is dotted with groceries and snap stands. The buildings still preserve the old fashion with typical style and features of the old town market in the southern part of China.
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