Shuihui Garden
The Shuihui Garden was built in Wanli Period of the Ming Dynasty, in which, once lived Mao Pijiang, one of the four celebrities of the late Ming Dynasty and Dong Xiaowan, a well-known female entertainer within Nanjing at that time. Shuihui Garden was famous at that time for its clear azure waters, exquisite hills, exotic flowers and herbs, gorgeous scenery of green forests and painted reflections of views. However, it was ruined by war in the Shunzhi Period of Qing Dynasty.
In 1989, Nantong and Rugao governments invited Chen Congzhou, a famous expert on Chinese classical building to design and rebuild Shuihui Garden. After that, more than 10 scenic places were repaired including Yimo Zhai, Yinshu Building, Hanbi Hall, Zhenyan Pavilion, Mirror Attic. etc. Professor Chen Congzhou described in detail the process of rebuilding in his book “Rebuilding of Shuihui Garden”. In June, 2001 , approved by the State Council, Shuihui Garden and Bright Water Tower Ancient Architectural Complex were listed as Key National Heritage Conservation Units.
Rugao People’s Park
Built in 1912, one of the earliest state-run parks after the Revolution of 1911 (the Chinese bourgeois democratic revolution led by Dr, Sun Yat-sen which overthrew the Qing Dynasty) , made up by Yi Garden, Chan Garden and other relic gardens of Ming and Qing Dynasties. It also involves some places built in modern time such as the Bonsai Garden, Zoo, and Children’s Playground. etc. In 1998, it was named as the National First Class Park by Jiangsu Province. As it had a long history, the park preserved a lot of historical relics including a Salt Well, which could produce bittern of Rugao’s land formation period before the Eastern Han Dynasty; ancient painted pottery from the Tang Dynasty, Wall of the Ming Dynasty and Guchan Garden, once lived and praised by Zhen Banqiao, one of the Yang Zhou Eight Eccentrics in the Qing Dynasty as well as many historical relics from the Republic of China Period. Rugao style bonsai art is one of the seven bonsai art styles in China, the Bonsai Garden now has carefully collected some rare bonsai art relics from the Song Dynasty. Also, Rugao style bonsai has yielded many rewards both at home and abroad.
Rugao Museum
Three architectural complexes constitute Rugao Museum including Bright Water Tower, Fragrant Rain Buddhist Nunnery and Yinyu Hall. The museum, which is a local comprehensive museum, has accumulated a great number of valuable relics, and has established a special showroom of Rugao’s geography, culture and history. The Bright Water Tower, lies in the west of the Alms Bowl Washing Lake of the park and becomes one of the main scenic spots of Shuihui Garden Scenic Zone.
Lingwei Taoist Temple
Located in the east of the scenic zone, it is a famous scenic spot of Taoist culture. The East Street Historical Area is a conservation area for Ruao’s customs and is a special place where you can buy local traditional products
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