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Explore the region
About Geyuan Garden
Bamboo provides the recurring green setting, while the seasonal rockeries create contrasting textures and colours.
The summer composition uses Taihu stone, the autumn area uses Huangshan stone and the winter scene uses pale Xuan stone. Follow these contrasts as a miniature landscape sequence rather than looking only for individual buildings. The garden’s name also connects with the shape of a cluster of bamboo leaves.
Geyuan was built in the twenty-third year of the Jiaqing era (1818) by the Lianghuai salt merchant Huang Zhijun (黄至筠), who rebuilt it on the site of the former Ming-dynasty Shouzhi Garden (寿芝园). In the early Tongzhi era (1862) it was sold to Li Wen'an (李文安), a salt merchant from Dantu, Zhenjiang. The warlord Xu Baoshan (徐宝山), who controlled Yangzhou, forced the Li family to pledge a sum it could not pay and seized the garden as debt payment; Xu was killed by revolutionaries in 1913, and the Li family gave up the garden in 1926, after which it passed to the Jiang and Zhu families and was nationalized in 1949.
The garden's name comes from the image of moonlight on bamboo forming the character 个 ('ge'). Beyond its bamboo plantings, it is known for rockeries built of stone to represent the four seasons, so that walking through the garden passes through spring, summer, autumn and winter in turn. Most of the rockery stone was ballast carried by the boats of the Li family's fleet; the family held the garden for about sixty years, the longest of any owner, and gradually completed its present layout during that time. Geyuan was listed in the third batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位) in 1988.
What to look for
- The four-season rockeries contrast different stone types and landscape effects.
- Bamboo planting unifies the changing seasonal compositions.
The surrounding area
A separate city for morning tea, historic streets and Slender West Lake. An overnight stay makes breakfast part of the visit.
Location & getting there
Getting to Geyuan Garden
Approach Geyuan on Dongguan Street in Yangzhou’s old-city area.
Combine your visit
A suggested sequence linking the specific features of this visit.
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Spring bamboo composition
Begin with the planting that gives the garden its identity.
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Summer and autumn rockeries
Compare Taihu stone with the Huangshan-stone landscape.
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Winter rockery
Finish with the pale stone used to suggest a different season.
This order is editorial. Confirm access and any transfers between stops; it does not establish a walking route, same-day connection or common admission ticket.
Find Geyuan Garden
个园 · 扬州市
The pin marks the area, not the entrance.
More places nearby
Approximate straight-line distances between map pins, not travel distances.
He Garden 何园
2 km awayHe Garden combines a late-Qing residence with eastern and western gardens in a connected sequence. Its architecture incorporates both Chinese garden traditions and Western influences.
View guide →Slender West Lake 瘦西湖
2 km awaySlender West Lake winds through a restored garden landscape northwest of Yangzhou’s old city. Its narrow waterway developed from earlier moats and canals, later bordered by wealthy merchants’ estates.
View guide →Daming Temple 大明寺
4 km awayDaming Temple occupies the middle peak of Shugang in Yangzhou. It is closely associated with Jianzhen, the monk who later carried Buddhist teachings to Japan.
View guide →Sources & visit information
The linked encyclopedia sources support background and place descriptions. Current opening hours, ticket prices, booking rules and transport schedules have not been independently verified for this guide. Confirm them with the venue or operator before travelling.
Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikipedia contributors, “Geyuan” · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1362190451.
Background paragraphs translated and condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "个园", Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 92116205.