The West Garden is the largest private garden in Xitang Ancient Town, Jiangsu Province. The original site is in Jijia Alley on West Street. It was the villa of the Zhu family in the Ming Dynasty and was later transferred to the Sun family. In 1920, because Mr. Liu Yazi, a poet, and a group of literary friends in Xitang held an elegant gathering and took a group photo here. The photo taken was called the ‘Second Picture of the Elegant Gathering in the West Garden’, so the West Garden gained some reputation. The current West Garden is a newly-built park in 1993. It is no longer the place where the Nanshe Society recited poems. To commemorate Liu Yazi, it is named ‘West Garden’. The new West Garden has small bridges and flowing water, stone lion gate halls. Inside the garden, there are brick-paved patterned promenades, waterside pavilions, winding bridges, rockeries, pavilions, and artificial waterfalls. Inside the garden, there are exhibition halls such as ‘Zhu Nianci’s Fan Calligraphy Art Museum’, ‘Hundred Seal Museum’, and ‘Nanshe Exhibition Room’. In the garden, trees, flowers, rockeries, and ponds are arranged in an orderly manner. There is a hexagonal pavilion named ‘Zuixue Pavilion’ on the rockery. One of the eight scenic spots in Xitang, ‘Xiaoshan Zuixue’, is here. On the rockery on the east side of the garden, there is a tea room named ‘Tingtao Pavilion’. Because there is a white-bark pine several feet tall on the rockery and the wind makes a rustling sound, it is named ‘Tingtao Pavilion’. When visiting here, you can take a short break, taste tea and enjoy the view, and enjoy yourself. Opening hours: Open all year round from 08:00 to 17:30.
West Garden
The West Garden is the largest private garden in Xitang Ancient Town, Jiangsu Province. The original[...]
