Fengzhu Garden

Fengzhu Garden

Fengzhu Garden is located at the northwest corner of Pinghu Lake in West Lake, Huizhou, Guangdong. It is surrounded by water on three sides, with a 36-meter-wide Ehu Road separating it from Linghu Lake to the north. Fengzhu Garden is a park in Guangdong featuring Lingnan architectural style. By exploring the historical culture and humanistic landscapes of West Lake, the garden creates a classical Lingnan-style garden rich in cultural significance and poetic charm.

As an important part of the West Lake beautification project, Fengzhu Garden strives to become the “Fifth Famous Garden in Guangdong,” following Liang Garden, Keyuan, Yuyin Garden, and Qinghui Garden. The garden’s 29 individual structures adopt traditional Lingnan architectural styles while incorporating features of Huizhou residential courtyards, with white walls and black tiles, presenting a simple and elegant ancient aesthetic. Covering an area of 30,000 square meters, the garden is divided into six major scenic areas: the Main Entrance Area, Zhizhu (Knowing Fish) Area, Cultural and Emotional Cultivation Area, Guting (Solitary Paulownia) Pavilion Area, Liuxiang Tingpu (Flowing Fragrance and Waterfall) Area, and Dongwu Hexiang (East Dock and Lotus Fragrance) Area. Built to high standards of ancient architecture, the garden offers a top-tier landscape experience where visitors can appreciate birds, fish, lotus flowers, and unique rocks and trees, immersing themselves in ecological culture; draw inspiration from the literary talents and filial piety of ancient scholars; cultivate artistic refinement through music, tea, poetry, calligraphy, and painting; and explore agricultural life exhibits showcasing farming culture. It is another people-benefiting project in Huizhou, the People’s Prefecture, and a great destination for cultural leisure.

The name of the garden has its own origin. “Feng” refers to the former name of West Lake—Fenghu (Abundant Lake)—named for its abundant aquatic resources and irrigation benefits that brought plentiful harvests to residents. “Zhu” means a small piece of land in the water, a small islet. Another explanation is that Fengzhu was a small islet in front of Fengshan Mountain. In ancient times, there was a Fengzhu Pavilion, which collapsed early. Later, it was rebuilt as “Jiang Xiaozizhan” (Jiang Fengchen’s Filial Son Pavilion) in honor of Jiang Fengchen. The pavilion was surrounded by lotus flowers, hence it was also called “Lotus Pavilion.” The current Lotus Pavilion was expanded and rebuilt on the original site, and a Lingnan-style garden was added, thus named Fengzhu Garden.

Historical Evolution

Fengzhu, formerly known as Nianyudun, was originally a small islet in the northwest of Pinghu. There was a pavilion on the islet called Fengzhu Pavilion (now gone). During the Republican era, it was rebuilt as Jiang Xiaozizhan. According to Wu Ji, in 1916, Sheng Jingxi from Nanhai, Liang Zhiwen, and local resident Li Daiqing built it in honor of Jiang Fengchen. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, in 1962, the West Lake Construction Committee restored the garden scenery of Fengzhu by rebuilding a brick-and-wood antique-style pavilion on the original site of Jiang Xiaozizhan. A pond was dug around the pavilion, and lotus flowers were planted extensively. In summer, blooming lotuses surrounded the pavilion, creating a harmonious and radiant scene, hence it was called “Lotus Pavilion.” The later Lotus Pavilion was rebuilt in 1979 to resemble the original.

Originally, Fengzhu covered a very small area, situated among Pinghu, Ehu, and Linghu lakes, surrounded by water on all sides, with beautiful scenery. In 1979, the West Lake Management Committee, aiming to tap into scenic resources and expand tourist attractions, pushed soil and built a dike in the northwest of Fengzhu, connecting it with the green space along Taohua Stream. This expanded the original less-than-2,000-square-meter Fengzhu scenic area to 26,000 square meters (including some water areas). In 1987, the West Lake Construction Committee added two sets of lakeside structures themed around pavilions, terraces, towers, and gazebos (Guanyu Pavilion and Guanhe Pavilion) southeast of the Lotus Pavilion, perfecting the overall landscape of the Fengzhu Garden scenic area.

Garden Features

Fengzhu Garden boasts six major features and highlights: First, it covers a larger area than the other four famous gardens. Second, it has a massive group of Ying stones used in rockeries, totaling over 6,000 tons, ranking first in Guangdong Province. Third, the Taihu stone “Zhengyun Peak” at the garden entrance is the largest among the five gardens. Fourth, the garden has many rare tree species, including national first-class protected plants such as ginkgo and metasequoia, and national second-class protected plants such as Dalbergia odorifera (huanghuali) and camphor trees. Fifth, Fengzhu Garden is a comprehensive park themed around filial piety culture. Sixth, the architectural complex mainly follows the official architectural styles of the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the indoor furnishings on display are also in Ming and Qing styles. The garden’s antique-style buildings follow traditional Lingnan design while incorporating features of Huizhou residences.

Zili Village: Zili Village is located in Tangkou Town, Kaiping, Guangdong Province, commonly known as Huangniling. Originally, there were nine natural villages surnamed Fang. During the land reform period after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the three villages were combined and called Zili Village, meaning “self-reliance.” The village’s diaolou (watchtower) clusters are renowned for their exquisite architecture, harmonious layout, and staggered arrangement, representing the heyday of Kaiping diaolou. Zili Village currently has 63 households and 175 residents, but there are 248 overseas Chinese and compatriots from Hong Kong and Macau, mainly distributed in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macau. Overseas remittances are one of the main sources of livelihood for the village.

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