Cao's Garden

Cao's Garden

Cao's Garden is a national AAA-level tourist attraction.

Cao's Garden was originally Sun's Garden, built in the late Qing Dynasty by comprador Sun Zhongying. It spanned over 200 acres, stretching from today’s Yuanwei Road in the west to Zhouwei Road in the east, Wuma Road in the south, and Xin Kaihe River in the north. The garden was filled with flowers and trees, pavilions, terraces, towers, and winding streams. In the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign (1906), Sun sold the garden to Cao Kun, who invested heavily in landscaping, digging artificial lakes and swimming pools, building rockeries, constructing an island pavilion, and erecting a neoclassical "Ionic" double-column gateway and Western-style princess and prince buildings with curved eaves, forming a palatial architectural complex. The garden also featured elaborately carved stone statues of humans, horses, sheep, and lions, surrounded by vibrant flower arrangements and elegant landscapes, making it the most prestigious private garden of its time.

After Cao Kun bribed his way to the presidency in 1923, he held a lavish birthday celebration here, receiving enormous sums of money in gifts. However, within just one year, he was ousted from power and placed under house arrest at Yanqing Tower in Beijing’s Zhongnanhai. He later fled south. After that, apart from being occupied by his family, the garden was also used by his relative-in-law Zhang Zuolin. At the end of 1924, Sun Yat-sen visited Tianjin for the third time at the invitation of Feng Yuxiang, Duan Qirui, and Zhang Zuolin to discuss peace efforts for China. During this visit, he held talks with Zhang Zuolin in the garden to deliberate on state affairs. This historic meeting is known as the “Sun-Zhang Meeting at Cao’s Garden.”

Cao Kun returned to Tianjin as a private resident starting in 1927. Concerned for his safety, he built residences in the Italian Concession (now Hebei District) and the British Concession (now Heping District) between 1935 and 1936, then moved out in 1936 and sold the garden to the Ji-Cha Political Council. It was subsequently renamed “Tianjin First Park,” with added recreational, cultural, and dining facilities, attracting large numbers of visitors. After the July 7th Incident in 1937, when Tianjin fell to Japanese forces, the park was occupied and converted into a military field hospital. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the military took it over as an army hospital. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it became what is now the 254th Hospital, which still stands today. Although parts of the site have been demolished or rebuilt, traces of its former appearance can still be faintly seen.

Address: Intersection of Huangwei Road and Bama Road, Hebei District

Phone: 26296611

Cao Kun, courtesy name Zhongshan, was a native of Tianjin in Zhili Province. He was a leader of the Zhili Clique warlords during the Beiyang era, the fifth President of the Republic of China (who assumed office in October 1923 through bribery and was thus nicknamed the “Bribery President”), and was posthumously awarded the rank of First Class General of the National Revolutionary Army by the National Military Council on June 14, 1938.

Cao Kun attended a private school for several years in his childhood. At the age of 16, he pushed a cart to sell cloth in rural areas but eventually went out of business due to his fondness for pleasure and mismanagement. In 1881, when Yuan Shikai was recruiting soldiers at Xiaozhan, Cao enlisted. Soon after, he was selected to study at the Tianjin Military Preparatory School. In 189... More details about Cao Kun ++