The Garden Expo Garden covers an area of 3.45 square kilometers, approximately 5,175 acres, and is an emerging cultural and tourism complex in the Yangtze River Delta region, as well as a demonstration base for the cultural and creative transformation of industrial heritage in the eastern China area. The park has been designed by several renowned domestic and international architectural masters based on the unique landscape resources of ‘garden horticulture’, ‘industrial heritage’, and ‘mining pit cliffs’, creating four exquisite gardens: the Cliffside Flower Valley, Time Art Valley, Su Charm Valley, and Cloud Pond Dream Valley.
In addition, the Garden Expo Garden has introduced well-known boutique hotels such as Banyan Tree, Marriott Westin, Autograph, Radisson Collection, and InterContinental Indigo, and has created experiential projects like Coca-Cola. At the same time, the innovative combination of nature and the underwater botanical garden will become a highlight, with various elements creating a one-stop cultural and tourism complex that integrates leisure, retail, dining, cultural exhibitions, and entertainment experiences for visitors.
Behind the Garden Expo Garden, Jiangsu Garden Expo Garden aims to create a new type of tourist resort destination that integrates natural landscapes, family tourism, in-depth experiences, and leisure vacations. It pursues a high-quality lifestyle different from urban living and a one-stop travel attitude different from conventional travel, allowing people to experience the unique and new experiences brought by the Garden Expo Garden during their ‘garden’ tour.
A characteristic attraction in Nanjing is the special bell tower where visitors can check in. It projects the past, present, and future of Nanjing onto three clock faces. The first bell in China was made by Nanjing native Ji Tanran and is called the Nanjing Bell. The bell tower with three clock faces stands on high-rise buildings in the main exhibition area of the Garden Expo Garden. The time warehouse and the British Big Ben are designed by the same design company, with LED screens built on the walls, and Chen Gang, the composer of the violin concerto ‘Butterfly Lovers’, was invited to compose the music for the on-the-hour chimes.
The main exhibition hall, originally an abandoned factory building of Yinjia and Kunyuan white cement plants, has been designed by Academician Cui Kai of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. The current main exhibition hall integrates various functions such as industrial heritage protection, exhibition display, office meetings, and leisure services, becoming an industrial-style political and commercial center. In the future, 10,000 square meters of commercial space will be reserved here, with surprises such as the Coca-Cola Museum, Camera Museum, and Pioneer Bookstore for visitors during their tour.
The Coca-Cola Brand Pavilion showcases over a century of the development and innovation history of Coca-Cola. It also sells a variety of Coca-Cola branded merchandise over the years, allowing visitors to experience the charm of this globally popular soft drink.
Pioneer Bookstore, selected by National Geographic as one of the top ten bookstores in Asia, has become a cultural symbol of Nanjing.
Renowned international hotel groups such as Banyan Tree, Marriott, Radisson, InterContinental, and Westin have gathered here, each with its unique features.
Su Yun Thirteen Gardens – Immersive Jiangsu Cultural Garden Experience Project: Hosted by Professor Chen Wei, an ancient architecture expert from Southeast University, Su Yun Thirteen Gardens adheres to the design concept of ‘Innovating with the Past to Recreate the Essence of Jiangsu Gardens’, authentically recreating the classic ancient garden architecture of thirteen cities in Jiangsu, allowing visitors to explore the classic gardens of Jiangsu in a single day.
The all-day, all-area immersive Chinese-style performance and tour ‘Su Yun Xun Fang’ is staged daily within Su Yun Thirteen Gardens. Guided by the Jiangsu scholar Li Yu, visitors encounter historical literati and experience the unique charm of different cities, embarking on a dreamlike journey through Jiangnan gardens and Su Yun culture.
One city, one garden, one story; one step, one scene, one surprise. Su Yun Thirteen Gardens innovatively integrates experiential commercial scenes with immersive cultural displays, featuring traditional Chinese attire, Kunqu coffee, oriental tea, and intangible cultural heritage crafts… Visitors experience the classic aesthetics and philosophical thoughts of Jiangsu gardens amidst the interweaving of art and cultural imagination, painting a colorful picture of Jiangsu culture and experiencing a natural, cultural, and beautiful Su Yun lifestyle.
Highlight One: Master Design – Su Yun Thirteen Gardens was designed by Professor Chen Wei, an ancient architecture expert from Southeast University. The design team, led by Professor Chen, combined the famous ‘Three Distances’ principle of Song Dynasty landscape painting with the geographical and cultural characteristics of the thirteen cities and traditional garden culture for an integrated layout, creating twenty-four scenes that form a harmonious and picturesque Jiangsu garden against the backdrop of distinctive geological features.
Highlight Two: Su Yun Xun Fang – A Dreamlike All-Day, All-Area Immersive Performance Tour ‘Su Yun Xun Fang’ unfolds on a natural stage, the garden, with an immersive Chinese-style performance tour. Through a variety of forms such as situational performances, art installations, stage displays, drama, dance, acrobatics, music, and interactive talk shows, it invites you on a journey filled with cultural depth and poetic sentiment. In the interplay of art and cultural imagination, it paints a colorful picture of Jiangsu culture, achieving a dreamlike all-sensory immersive viewing experience.
Highlight Three: Cultural Famous Gardens – A Day to Witness the Essence of Jiangsu’s Classic Ancient Gardens. The Jiangnan gardens are renowned worldwide, and the Thirteen Gardens of Suyun showcase the classic representative gardens of thirteen cities in Jiangsu, reflecting the quintessence of Jiangsu’s five major cultural veins. The distinctive canal culture is embodied in Yangzhou Garden and Taizhou Garden; the Jiangnan culture is evident in Suzhou Garden, Wuxi Garden, and Changzhou Garden; the Chu-Han culture is highlighted in Xuzhou Garden and Suqian Garden; the coastal culture is represented by Lianyungang Garden, Nantong Garden, and Yancheng Garden; and the Six Dynasties and Jinling culture are reflected in Nanjing Garden and Zhenjiang Garden. In the Thirteen Gardens of Suyun, one can experience the famous gardens of Jiangnan Jiangsu in a single day. Highlight Four: Meticulous Gardening – Jiangsu’s Gardening Art. The Thirteen Gardens of Suyun not only strive for perfection in design but also adopt traditional gardening techniques such as lacquer work and bricklaying methods. Authentic building materials like bluestone and small blue tiles are utilized, with the construction of ancient buildings undertaken by two historic workshops, Dongyang and Xinxiang. The landscape is crafted by masters from the Hangzhou and Shanghai schools of landscape design. Highlight Five: Suyun Aesthetics – A Step-by-Step Oriental Garden Aesthetics. One city, one garden, one story; a step, a scene, a surprise. From a high vantage point, with waterways connecting, the thirteen city exhibition gardens are arranged according to the terrain, with pavilions scattered, corridors winding, eaves soaring, and ridges pecking high, gathering the essence of Suzhou-style garden landscapes and the quintessence of river, lake, and sea cultures. Walking through, the scenery changes with each step, as if traversing the millennia of history. Highlight Six: Suyun Freehand – Innovative Cultural Exhibition Space. Exploring the charm of Jiangsu culture through the beauty of gardens, from outdoor gardens to indoor exhibitions, each space is a cultural landscape point. Jiangsu culture is meticulously implemented in the exhibition space, infusing the thirteen gardens with vitality and offering visitors a new dynamic cultural experience. Highlight Seven: Suyun Picking Gifts – A Humanistic Business Experience Space that Integrates Exhibition and Commerce. Traditional costumes, Kunqu Opera coffee, oriental tea drinks, intangible cultural heritage crafts… The Thirteen Gardens of Suyun innovatively blend experiential commercial scenes with immersive cultural exhibitions. Each venue combines business, exhibition, touring, and experience, creating a unique Suyun elegant lifestyle experience. Highlight Eight: Hua Lin Seeking Fragrance – A Sunset Viewing Point in Nanjing. The Jingyang Tower in Nanjing Garden, as a landmark building and unique cultural identifier within the Garden Expo, is complemented by beautiful mountains and trees, recreating the elegant aesthetics of Chinese classical gardens during the transition period. Climbing the tower offers a panoramic view of the entire park and is a prime spot for sunset viewing in Nanjing. Suyun Seeking Fragrance – A 24/7 Immersive National Style Performance and Roaming Project: ‘Suyun Seeking Fragrance’ unfolds through an immersive national style performance and roaming approach, featuring a variety of performance forms such as situational performances, national style parades, tech exhibitions, square dances, water performances, martial arts acrobatics, and interactive talk shows. With floating stages, artistic displays, interactive screens, and mist forests as part of the stage design, it achieves a dreamlike 24/7 immersive sensory experience.
Under the guidance of the talented Jiangsu figure Li Yu, visitors step into thirteen culturally distinctive gardens, encounter historical literati, and experience the unique charm of different cities, embarking on a dreamlike journey through the Jiangnan gardens steeped in the culture of Suzhou. Highlight One: Immersive Experience – A National Style Performance Wandering Show that takes visitors through a journey of good plays, divided into three themed performance areas: Searching for Elegance in the South of the Yangtze, Inquiring about Rites in the Palace, and Military Drills on the Battlefield, totaling seven chapters and sixteen performance points, covering major indoor and outdoor nodes, creating a dreamlike experience with plays along the way.
Highlight Two: All-Day Appreciation – The Garden Hundred Plays are staged in a loop, constructing an intensive all-day performance experience. Led by the protagonist Li Yu, visitors meet historical celebrities, travel through a thousand years, and create a dramatic experience that is felt at all times. Highlight Three: Aesthetic Immersion – The Eastern Aesthetic Immersion Performance is integrated into the classic ancient garden architecture and scenes of Jiangsu, where every step reveals a new view, as if traversing through the long river of a thousand years of history. The beauty of the performance complements the beauty of the garden. Highlight Four: Culture as the Soul – The innovative performance focusing on Jiangsu culture highlights the essence of Jiangsu culture and the inheritance of the Jinling cultural vein. With performance as the body and culture as the soul, it provides an innovative interpretation and performance of Jiangsu culture, bringing visitors a cultural feast of Suzhou charm.Highlight 5: Spiritual Perception – Experience the elegant life of humanistic Jiangsu charm. The performances integrate viewing, interaction, parade and experience. In the immersive viewing and performing process, cultural dialogues are carried out and aesthetic philosophies are felt, giving tourists spiritual infiltration and the perception and inheritance of Jiangsu charm cultural life. Baobao Paradise – A natural healing parent-child paradise by the cliff.
Project: Baobao Paradise takes Panda Baobao as the IP. Covering an area of 91 mu, it is composed of two parts: ‘Natural Hill’ and ‘Healing Valley’. It integrates multiple experiences such as nature, exploration, popular science, sports and games. The park has many amusement facilities such as Brave Tower, Hydrodynamic Factory, Water Bookstore, Xingqi Twin Towers, Slope Challenge, Cloud Slide Tube, Linmeng Climbing Net, Baobao’s Belly, Gummy Pillow, Strange Net Crossing, and Powerful Rope. Baobao IP-themed parent-child restaurant – Baobao Restaurant satisfies the happy experience of parent-child families aged 4-12 in one stop. In this natural healing parent-child paradise, children can freely enjoy the natural charm and unlimited joy, perceive the beauty of nature in exploration, and grow up happily in love and hugs. Highlight 1: Baobao IP – The cute giant panda Baobao can be seen everywhere in the park. More panda companions move into Baobao Paradise and become new residents of the paradise, filling the paradise with colorful new energy. Look for Baobao companions everywhere, at the gate, in the sea of flowers, on the umbrella surface, and on the fence… Embrace unlimited childishness and hug the natural fun. Highlight 2: Natural cliff – A powerless paradise by the cliff. Nanjing has a powerless paradise built by the cliff. It retains the natural cliff and water surface landscape and creates a unique playing experience immersed in nature. Children can run and jump freely on the grass, swing and laugh on the swing, and gain the joy of exploration in nature. Highlight 3: Baobao Restaurant – Panda Baobao IP parent-child restaurant. In Baobao Restaurant, you can taste delicious and nutritious children’s themed meals, enjoy the unrestrained and beautiful Baobao afternoon tea, customize a dreamy and childlike themed birthday banquet, and enjoy a pleasant parent-child eating time while having fun. Opening hours: Open from 09:00 to 18:00 from Monday to Thursday and Sunday throughout the year; Open from 09:00 to 21:00 on Friday and Saturday throughout the year. Preferential policies: Children: Children under 1.2 meters (inclusive) in height are free. One ticket-buying adult is limited to bring one free child (applicable to the Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), free; Children between 1.2 meters (exclusive) and 1.5 meters (inclusive) in height (applicable to the Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), half price; Children under 0. 9 meters (inclusive) in height are free. One ticket-buying adult is limited to bring one free child (applicable to Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), free; height 0.Children between 9 meters (excluding) and 1.5 meters (including) (applicable to Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), half price. Elderly: Elderly people aged 70 years old (including) and above can enter the park by exchanging tickets for free at the ticket office with their identity documents (applicable to Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm and Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), free of charge. Elderly people aged 60 years old (including) to 69 years old (including), when entering the park, need to show their valid identity documents (applicable to Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm and Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), half price. Military personnel: Active-duty military personnel, retired cadres and retired sergeants who hold valid military officer certificates (armed police), military civilian cadre certificates, soldier certificates (armed police), sergeant certificates or student certificates issued by the military can enter the park by exchanging tickets at the ticket office with valid certificates (applicable to Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm and Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), free of charge. Disabled people: People with valid disability certificates. Severely disabled people can bring a caregiver and enter the park by exchanging tickets at the ticket office with valid certificates (applicable to Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm and Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), free of charge. Medical staff in Nanjing: Medical staff in the city must hold medical staff certificates issued by medical and health institutions within Nanjing and enter the park by exchanging tickets at the ticket office with valid certificates (applicable to Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm and Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), free of charge. Fire rescue personnel: Fire rescue personnel (including on-duty, retired, disabled fire rescue personnel, fire rescue academy students and full-time government firefighters) can enter the park by exchanging tickets at the ticket office with valid certificates (applicable to Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm and Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), free of charge. Persons who have performed acts of bravery: Persons who have been awarded honorary titles in Jiangsu Province or Nanjing City for performing acts of bravery can enter the park by exchanging tickets at the ticket office with valid certificates (applicable to Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm and Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), free of charge. Privileged personnel: Personnel holding the “Preferential Treatment Certificate for Veterans of the People’s Republic of China” and the “Preferential Treatment Certificate for Martyrs, Military Personnel Who Died on Duty, and Family Members of Military Personnel Who Died of Illness of the People’s Republic of China” can enter the park by exchanging tickets at the ticket office with valid certificates (applicable to Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm and Baobao Paradise in Jiangsu Garden Expo Park), free of charge. Students: Full-time college students, undergraduates, and postgraduates (excluding distance network education, commissioned education, adult education, and evening universities) (applicable to Thirteen Gardens of Jiangsu Charm), half price.
