Gu Yi Garden lies in Jiading, in the north-western part of the Shanghai municipality, and it was first laid out in the Ming dynasty in the sixteenth century. It is counted among the five classical gardens of the Shanghai area, alongside the better-known Yu Garden in the old city, and it survives as a genuine scholar's garden rather than a rebuilt attraction: the ponds, the rockeries, the bamboo groves and the covered walkways follow the original scheme, with the usual centuries of repair and replanting on top.
How a classical garden works
Chinese classical gardens are built on a few consistent principles and Gu Yi is a good place to learn them. Water sits at the centre rather than the edge, and every path is arranged so that you cannot see the whole garden at once - walls, rockeries and planting are used to frame and conceal, and the walk unfolds in stages. Buildings are placed to be looked at as much as looked from. Rocks matter more than flowers: the irregular limestone boulders piled into miniature mountains are the garden's sculpture, and the best of them are named.
What to see
The garden divides into a series of connected courtyards and waterside sections, with halls, pavilions, a long corridor along the water, and arched bridges. Bamboo is planted densely, and the garden is at its best in early summer when the lotuses open on the ponds. The bamboo, the rockeries and the covered walkways are the three things to spend time on, and the garden rewards sitting still in a pavilion rather than walking a circuit. Jiading's other attractions - the Confucian temple and the old town lanes - are within a short ride.
Practical notes
Jiading is at the end of metro line 11, about an hour from the centre, and the garden is a short taxi ride from the station. The garden charges a modest admission fee and is popular with Shanghai families at weekends. Weekday mornings are calm and the light on the water is at its best. Because the garden is far from the main tourist districts, it is normally combined with Jiading itself or with the nearby Qiuxia Garden and the old town rather than treated as a standalone stop.
