Tanchi Garden

Tanchi Garden

Tanchi Garden is the only classical-style garden of note on Chongming Island, featuring both traditional flower house designs and classic Suzhou-style garden scenery, earning it the nickname “The Miniature Park of the Pearl of the Treasure Island.” The exterior is enclosed by walls with upturned eaves, terracotta tiles, and red railings adorned with bronze rings. On the east and west sides stand the Fengle Lou buildings, double-eaved and octagonal, exuding an ancient charm. Within the garden, the Xinghu Lake’s waters ripple quietly, and classical structures such as the Ningjing Hall, Woboke Pavilion, Qingmu Pavilion, Yingyue Bridge, Qigan Pavilion, and painted pleasure boats feature soaring upturned eaves, ornate painted beams, and exquisite carvings, all arranged in a quaint and harmonious layout. Indoors, there are rosewood tables and chairs, as well as stone drums, ceramic stools, picture frames, and palace lanterns, all adding to the classical ambiance. The garden also houses over 70 types of ancient trees and famous flowers including ginkgo, osmanthus, wintersweet, magnolia, citron, willows, photinia, elaeagnus, ligustrum, osmanthus, umbrella bamboo, black bamboo, and heavenly bamboo.

Tanchi Garden in Chongming is located at the intersection of Beimen Road and Dongmen Road in the county town. It covers an area of eight and a half acres. The garden features attractions such as the Ningjing Hall, Bandong Building, Woboke Pavilion, Yingyue Bridge, Qingjia Pavilion, painted pleasure boats, and Xinghu Lake, with a total of over a thousand square meters of classical-style architecture. With its delicate structures, high-flying bridges, surrounding corridors, shimmering waters, competing water lilies, lake stones resembling mountains, and an atmosphere that seems naturally formed, the garden also boasts over 70 types of ancient and famous trees and plants, including large trees such as ginkgo, osmanthus, magnolia, and citron, as well as shrubs like photinia, elaeagnus, ligustrum, and various bamboos such as black bamboo, Buddha’s belly bamboo, and feather bamboo. In autumn, the fragrant osmanthus blooms, while in winter, the aroma of wintersweet fills the air. Being here makes one feel peaceful and elegant, with charming spots for rest and enjoyment. The architecture is laid out in an artful and varied fashion, combining traditional flower house designs with classic Suzhou garden aesthetics—hence Tanchi Garden is celebrated as “The Miniature Park of the Pearl of the Treasure Island.”

The original site of the ancient Tanchi Garden was located to the north of the former county government office, originally at the rear of the county yamen. The date of the garden’s establishment is unknown due to lost records and scattered materials. Despite extensive research, only one broken stone stele inscribed with “Tanchi Continuation Record” has been found. Unfortunately, it is fractured, aged, and the text is faded and illegible. It is said that during the mid-Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, County Magistrate He Qixiu renovated the site, creating attractions such as the Langyu Pavilion and Qinhe Pavilion. By the time of the Xinhai Revolution, the old garden had fallen into disrepair and was overgrown. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, only a lotus pond, a mound of earth, a winding bridge, and a field of ruins remained.

After being relocated and rebuilt, Tanchi Garden has seen an increasing number of visitors. At its opening, Zhou Gucheng, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, inscribed the garden’s name and personally visited and wrote calligraphy. Local literati such as Shi Nanchi, Shi from the Song Dynasty, Fan Boyan, and Liu Kansheng composed poetry and created paintings in the garden, adding to its cultural charm.

Within the garden, the Xinghu Lake’s waters ripple quietly, and classical structures such as the Ningjing Hall, Woboke Pavilion, Qingmu Pavilion, Yingyue Bridge, Qigan Pavilion, and painted pleasure boats feature soaring upturned eaves, ornate painted beams, and exquisite carvings, all arranged in a quaint and harmonious layout. Indoors, there are rosewood tables and chairs, as well as stone drums, ceramic stools, picture frames, and palace lanterns, all exuding a classical charm.

The park centers around Xinghu Lake, with lush greenery encircling the lake and buildings arranged in a tranquil and elegant layout. The main gate is located in the center of the northern side of the garden, with a square entrance hall featuring a plaque inscribed by Zhou Gucheng. Inside the gate is a small courtyard, along the south wall of which is a small flower bed with lake stones.

To the left of the gate is the two-story Fengle Lou building, L-shaped and of mixed construction, with a floor area of 520 square meters. Behind the courtyard is the painted pleasure boat, facing west at the head and east at the tail, surrounded entirely by land. The boat’s body is made of stone, while the upper structure is of brick and wood. It features a front corridor and rear pavilion, covering an area of 40 square meters. Around the boat are planted weeping willows, dragon claw willows, flowering peach trees, and boxleaf holly, with scattered lake stones. A covered walkway at the bow of the boat connects north to Fengle Lou and west to the Woboke Pavilion. The earthen hill, formed from excavated lake soil, winds from north to south between Xinghu Lake and the surrounding wall. The northern part of the hill is paved with yellow stones.

The Qigan Pavilion is located on the western slope of the midsection of the earthen hill. It is a brick-and-wood structure with a hexagonal pointed roof, covering an area of 4 square meters, with a plaque inscribed by [calligrapher’s name omitted]. The hill is planted with osmanthus, wintersweet, cherry blossoms, red-leaf plum, and photinia. The Ningjing Hall is situated in the central southern part of the garden, facing the painted pleasure boat across the lake, and is the main building of the garden, with a plaque inscribed by Su Juxian. The hall is a brick-and-wood structure, covering an area of 113 square meters, with a platform in front and a stone railing along the lakeside. The Qingmu Pavilion is located to the east of the Ningjing Hall, also a brick-and-wood structure, covering an area of 32 square meters. The pavilion faces the lake to the north and is connected to the Ningjing Hall by a curved corridor to the south. To the west is a courtyard surrounded by three sides of curved corridors, serving as an exhibition space for potted flowers.

The Yiqinhe Pavilion is located to the west of the lake, a brick-and-wood structure covering an area of 50 square meters. The pavilion is enclosed by walls on the north, west, and south sides, with corridors on the east and west, forming a quiet courtyard planted with crepe myrtle and crabapple trees. To the east, the pavilion connects to a square pavilion by the lake, with corridors leading to the Woboke Pavilion and the Ningjing Hall on either side. The Woboke Pavilion, located by the northwest fork of Xinghu Lake, is a brick-and-wood structure covering an area of 48 square meters. The Yingyue Bridge connects the north and south shores at the mouth of the lake fork, built from granite as a five-arch flat bridge. On moonlit nights, when viewed from the east side of the Woboke Pavilion, the long bridge lies across the water with the moon reflected nearby, creating a uniquely picturesque scene.

Aside from a row of metasequoia trees planted along the eastern wall of the garden as a screen, the garden’s trees are mainly planted singly or in clusters, including 44 species and 172 trees such as osmanthus, wintersweet, ginkgo, palms, magnolia, podocarpus, crabapple, boxleaf holly, metasequoia, nandina, and black pine, as well as various bamboos and climbing plants like trumpet creeper and wisteria. The ratio of trees to shrubs is 1:0.55, and the ratio of evergreen to deciduous trees is 1:0.95.

Tanchi Garden functions both as a public park and a club for senior officials. The garden includes spaces for reading newspapers, playing chess, and enjoying tea.