Ten Thousand Flowers Garden

Ten Thousand Flowers Garden

According to the Yangzhou Prefecture Records of the Kangxi era: “Ten Thousand Flowers Garden was built in the third year of the Duanping reign of the Song Dynasty (i.e., 1236 AD) by Commandant Zhao Kui at the fort city’s command headquarters.” During the Yuan Dynasty, the garden was a place longed for by literati and poets. Records in the Chinese Garden History Chronology show that the site of the original “Ten Thousand Flowers Garden” is where the present-day Shugang–Slender West Lake is located.

Covering a total area of over 1,000 acres, the first phase of the Ten Thousand Flowers Garden was completed and opened to the public on April 18, 2007, while the second phase opened on April 10, 2009. In terms of design philosophy and construction techniques, the project draws heavily on the historical and cultural background of Slender West Lake, with flower culture as its central theme and classical historical gardens as its narrative thread. It has restored several historical landscapes from the Twenty-Four Scenes of the Qing Dynasty, including Stone Cliff and Flowing Springs, Brocade Spring and Flower Isle, and Green Willow City Walls. With this, most of the famous Twenty-Four Scenes of the Qing Dynasty at Slender West Lake have been revived.

While respecting history, and taking advantage of numerous historical relics within the site—such as the Nine-Bend Pool recorded from the Sui and Tang periods, the Wave Light Pavilion (also known as the Nine-Bend Pavilion) related to Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty (Zhao Kuangyin), the ruins of the Tang Dynasty city wall, and ancient wells from the Song Dynasty—the project has created new attractions: “Flowers in Full Bloom,” “Four Ministers Wearing Flowers,” “Drunken Moon and Soaring Fairies,” “Wind-Swept Springs and Clear Tones,” “Tracing the Past Among Historic Sites,” and “Playful Waters and Merging Emotions,” collectively known as the “New Eight Scenes.” These integrate the Tang Dynasty city gate and walls, Song Dynasty pavilions, the Twenty-Four Scenes of the Qing Dynasty such as Stone Cliff and Flowing Springs and “Brocade Spring and Flower Isle,” along with the nationally intangible cultural heritage of Yangzhou-style penjing (potted plants), not only extending the historical depth of Slender West Lake but also comprehensively showcasing the profound cultural connotations and unique styles accumulated through Yangzhou’s dynastic history. Together, they form a naturally beautiful traditional Chinese painting scroll with water as the soul, garden and cultural landscapes as the essence, and the Great Ming Temple as the backdrop, further highlighting the distinctive garden-on-water characteristics of Slender West Lake.

As a “garden of ten thousand flowers,” its plant arrangements are uniquely ingenious and unconventional. Based on the theme of “water, trees, flowers, and stones,” over 5,000 large trees have been planted, more than 1,000 of which are rare species—each tree, such as the Zhejiang five-needle pine penjing, Anhui black pine, and Jiangxi osmanthus balls, presents a scene of its own. Aiming for “a flower at every step,” the garden has planted over 200 varieties of flowers, totaling more than 3 million plants.

With the full completion of the Ten Thousand Flowers Garden, its new landscapes blend seamlessly with the historic sites of Slender West Lake such as the Five-Pavilion Bridge and Little Golden Hill, achieving perfect harmony. The poetic landscape of “willows and flowers lining both banks, towers and terraces leading all the way to the mountain” has now become a reality.