Jiuquan Shengji Garden 酒泉胜迹

About Jiuquan Shengji Garden

The Jiuquan municipal government's introduction to the site, dated 1 June 2025, gives its name history and its shape. It says the present name is 西汉酒泉胜迹, that the site was formerly 酒泉公园, that the Nationalist government named it 泉湖公园 in 1942 and that it was renamed 酒泉公园 in 1956, and it calls it the only completely preserved Han-dynasty garden in the Hexi Corridor and a classical garden drawing on Western Han history, expressing the grandeur of the Han and blending Jiangnan gracefulness. It places the site 1.9 km east of the seat of 肃州区 in 酒泉市, gives its area as 270,000 m² with 50,000 m² of natural lake, and divides it into three zones: a historical culture zone, a mountain-and-lake scenic zone and a rest-and-recreation zone. Among the built features it lists 西汉胜境, which it says comprises 祁连望阙, 汉武广场, 神明衢桥, 盛世丝路 and 酒泉胜迹, together with 祁连澄波, 芦伴晚舟, 烟云深处, 花月双清 and 曲苑餐秀. It says the garden holds springs, a lake, pavilions, waterside buildings, steles and corridors and a 左公柳 more than 130 years old that is still flourishing. On the spring it says the age of the ancient spring inside the garden cannot be established, but that the name 酒泉 has been recorded in histories and gazetteers for more than 2,100 years, and that naming a commandery after a spring is rare in China.

A China News Service Gansu feature dated 27 February 2022 and written by Feng Zhijun and Wang Muyu, with photographs supplied by the 肃州区委宣传部, adds the detail. It describes visitors in the scenic area, willows planted by 左宗棠 that are now thick enough for three or four people with linked hands to encircle, and a pool said in legend to be the one 霍去病 poured wine into. It places the garden 1.9 km east of the seat of 肃州区 and lists among its historic features the ancient 酒泉 spring, the 左公柳, the spring lake and a large group of garden buildings. Zhang Jianpin, director of the 肃州区 cultural centre, is quoted as saying the ancient spring has flowed for more than 2,100 years and is evidence of the Han dynasty opening the Western Regions, and that there were nine springs here in Han times, flowing in all four seasons and forming a lake; of those nine the article says only one survives, inside the scenic area, and a guide there is quoted as saying it never freezes however cold the Gobi winter and is cool and drinkable in summer, with many local people coming to draw its water. The same official is quoted as saying that the site was listed as a national AAAA-level tourist attraction in 2002 and that the state and local government have since invested in a full upgrade concentrating on infrastructure and the protection of historic sites. The article gives three 左公柳 in the park as the record of 左宗棠, who garrisoned 酒泉 while recovering Xinjiang and decided to rebuild a dilapidated garden in the city, says the park was completed in 1879, and says 左宗棠 announced that it would be free to the public on lunar festivals and certain holidays; Zhang Jianpin is quoted as saying that gardens of the time were for nobles and senior officials only, that this act raised ordinary people's standard of living, and that 酒泉公园 thereby became the first park in China open to the general public. The article also says a 左宗棠 exhibition hall with five galleries has been set up in the scenic area and that a 酒泉碑林 has been set up there showing calligraphy by 李白, 左宗棠, 林则徐 and other historic figures connected with Jiuquan's culture.

On the name of the place, a PLA Daily national-defence feature dated 18 May 2022 and credited to Si Lilong and Chen Sixia, republished by the Ministry of National Defense, says Jiuquan was anciently called 肃州, a name meaning to pacify and bring peace to the frontier, and that the 肃 of Gansu's own name comes from it. It says that since Emperor Wu of the Han established the four commanderies and the two passes, this city at the junction of Gansu, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia has carried the historical duty of defending the frontier. It gives the city's name as coming from the phrase 'there is a spring below the city, its water like wine', and gives as a 传说 that the cavalry general 霍去病, after winning the battle of the Hexi Corridor, was given a jar of imperial wine by Emperor Wu to reward his soldiers and, with much wine and many men, poured it into the spring so that all could drink, which is why the place is called 酒泉. The China News Service feature gives the same two accounts as different explanations of the name.

The gaps are in visitor information rather than in background. None of the four sources gives opening hours, ticket prices, a booking channel or a statement of which interiors are open, so the catalogue's caution to confirm separately which interiors, temple halls and relic display areas are open is unanswered here, and the sources describe no temple hall or relic display area at the site at all. The municipal page carries no author and no statement of designation status, and the register, which supplies the official name and the 4A grade, gives no opening information and records an address rather than a verified entrance. On the two claims that a reader is most likely to want to rely on, the sources are attributed rather than official: the 2002 national AAAA listing and the description of 酒泉公园 as China's first park open to the general public are both the words of the 肃州区 cultural centre director in the China News Service feature, and the municipal page and the register do not repeat them. The 霍去病 story is labelled a 传说 by the Ministry of National Defense page and is reported as a legend, not as history, and the 1879 completion date and the free-opening announcement come from the same attributed account.

What to look for

• The ancient spring, of which the 2022 feature says only one of the nine recorded springs survives, inside the scenic area
• The 左公柳, three of which the same feature records in the park, and the 左宗棠 exhibition hall with its five galleries
• The 酒泉碑林, which the feature says shows calligraphy by 李白, 左宗棠, 林则徐 and other historic figures connected with Jiuquan's culture
• The three zones the municipal page names — historical culture, mountain-and-lake, and rest and recreation — and the features it lists inside 西汉胜境: 祁连望阙, 汉武广场, 神明衢桥, 盛世丝路 and 酒泉胜迹
• The garden's other named features, 祁连澄波, 芦伴晚舟, 烟云深处, 花月双清 and 曲苑餐秀, and its springs, lake, pavilions, waterside buildings, steles and corridors

Location & getting there

Getting to Jiuquan Shengji Garden

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

• Search for 酒泉胜迹 with 酒泉市 and 肃州区.