Gaoyi Garden

Gaoyi Garden

Gaoyi Garden is located at the southern foot of Tianping Mountain. It was first built during the Baoli era of the Tang Dynasty and originally served as the ancestral temple of Fan Zhongyan from the Song Dynasty.

Gaoyi Garden consists of five courtyards, built along the mountain slope with each level gradually ascending, spanning a depth of about 70 meters. Passing through the first gate and then the ceremonial gate, the third courtyard is now labeled “Lete Sky Tower,” originally named the Imperial Calligraphy Tower and formerly called the Imperial Ink Tower. It is a grand and exquisite double-eaved hip-and-gable building. It is 15 meters wide and 10 meters deep, with three bays on both the upper and lower floors. The lower floor is a four-sided hall surrounded by corridors, while the upper floor is an open pavilion with railings on all sides. The fourth courtyard features the Lingkong Gaojia Pavilion, which is cantilevered high above the ground and forms a scenic counterpoint with Lete Sky Tower. This pavilion has a hip-and-gable roof, with two wing-like extensions on either side resembling twin watchtowers, giving it the appearance of a multi-storied pavilion complex. The rear courtyard houses the main hall of Gaoyi Garden, a single-eaved hip-and-gable structure with three bays. Inside, there is a blue-background, gold-character, coiling-dragon plaque inscribed with the words “Gaoyi Garden,” written by Emperor Qianlong during his first visit to Tianping Mountain in the 16th year of the Qianlong reign (1751), as well as two stone tablets engraved with his poems titled “Two Poems on Sixteen Rhymes of Visiting Tianping.”

On either side of Lete Sky Tower are small courtyards that utilize mountain cliffs and pebble-lined pools to collect spring water, complemented by lush bamboo and trees, adding a lively and natural charm to the symmetrical architecture. The eastern courtyard is larger and includes a square stele pavilion called “Enlun Pavilion.” To the west of the garden lies the Baiyun Ancient Temple, which was first built in the second year of the Baoli era of the Tang Dynasty (826). Initially known as Baiyun Nunnery, it derived its name from the Baiyun Spring. In the fourth year of the Qingli era of the Northern Song Dynasty (1044), Fan Zhongyan, due to his ancestral tomb being located here, petitioned to turn it into a Buddhist monastery for the Fan family’s merit and incense offerings. Emperor Renzong of Song, Zhao Zhen, bestowed upon it the name “Baiyun Chan Temple,” also known as Tianping Temple. It was destroyed at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and rebuilt during the Ming Dynasty under the Hongwu reign. The current structures date back to the late Qing Dynasty reconstruction, with only three bays of the main hard-roofed hall, two side rooms, and the mountain gate remaining. The platform of the main hall and the lotus-petal-shaped, bead-surrounded column bases are ancient relics. The Fan Canyi Ancestral Hall is located in the eastern part of the garden, consisting of an entrance gate and a main hall. The main hall is now labeled “Suihan Hall,” featuring a hard roof with three bays and two corresponding side rooms. The Laiyan Pavilion is situated to the east of the hall, with the “Jingjing Platform” outside by the Tenscen Pond, and inside, there is a concave-shaped pool called “Yule Yuan” (Fish Joy Garden). To the north of the pool stands a square pavilion labeled “Tingying Ge” (Oriole Listening Pavilion), which is surrounded by water on three sides and offers a view of the fish in the pond. Behind the pavilion is the “Wuyan Tang” (Awakening Words Hall), which has five bays, with the two outer bays serving as inner chambers. A corridor encircles the pond, with a gate on the southern corridor labeled “Laiyan Pavilion.” Further east lies the Zhoubobo Nunnery, adjacent to the spirit way stone archway of Fan Sui’s tomb and Peach Blossom Stream, comprising three courtyards. The second courtyard contains a small three-bay house with walls inlaid with stone carvings inscribed with “Between the Mountain Rocks” and “The Buddha Is Right Here.” The third courtyard is a Buddhist hall.

Ticket Price: 18 RMB (regular), 18 RMB (during the Red Maple Festival)

Phone: 66261382

Accessible via Bus Route You 4