The original Furong Garden was a Tang imperial garden beside the Qujiang pools, where the court held banquets and poetry gatherings. The modern park was built on the same site and opened in 2005, laying out a large area of lakes, pavilions, halls and gardens in a style based on Tang paintings and surviving architecture.
What the park contains
Highlights include the Ziyun Tower, a multi-storey hall standing above the lake, the Tang market street with its reconstructed shopfronts, and a series of themed garden courts. The scale is theatrical, and the park is honest about being a reconstruction; the value is in the impression it gives of Tang architecture and garden design rather than in original fabric.
The evening shows
After dark the park is illuminated and runs a large-scale outdoor performance with music, dance and lighting on the water and on the buildings. The lakeside light show and the costumed processions are the reason many visitors come in the evening rather than the afternoon. Schedules change with the season, so confirm current performance times on arrival.
Visiting notes
The park is in the Qujiang district in the southeast of the city, within walking distance of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and its plaza, which makes a natural pairing. It is large, so allow three hours or more, and plan to walk a lot. If you are visiting in summer, go late afternoon to catch the gardens in daylight and stay for the evening lights; in winter the shows scale down and the park is much quieter.
