PLACE GUIDE

Yuyuan Garden 豫园

Yuyuan Garden began as a Ming-period private garden created by Pan Yunduan for his father.

Yu Garden · 豫园
Yu Garden · 豫园 · Stefan Fussan · CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo adjustments

Wikimedia thumbnail; fitted to the ranking-card frame.

Explore the region

Shanghai · 上海市 →Huangpu District · 黄浦区 →

About Yuyuan Garden

It occupies a compact but intricate sequence of halls, rockeries, ponds and corridors beside Shanghai’s City God Temple.

Dragon walls divide the garden into distinct scenes. Sansui Hall and its Grand Rockery, Dianchun Hall and the porous Exquisite Jade Rock are useful specific features to seek out. The garden is a separate visit from the surrounding bazaar and teahouse area, even though the approaches are closely connected.

The garden was begun in 1559 by Pan Yunduan (潘允端), a Sichuan provincial administrator, on vegetable fields west of his family's Shichun Hall (世春堂); because his official duties kept him away, it was not completed until after his retirement in the late Wanli era. It was designed, along with its rockeries, by Zhang Nanyang (张南阳), and originally covered more than seventy mu (亩). From the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns the garden increasingly housed trade-guild halls, and it was damaged during the First Opium War, when its Huxinting pavilion (湖心亭) briefly served as a British military headquarters, and during further unrest in 1855 and 1860; after 1949 the guild halls gradually moved out and restoration began in 1956.

It was designated a Shanghai Municipal cultural heritage site (上海市文物保护单位) in 1959, opened to the public in 1961, and listed by the State Council as a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level (全国重点文物保护单位) in 1982. The garden is arranged in western, eastern, central and inner sections; the western section holds a Yuan-dynasty iron lion (元代铁狮) beside the Grand Rockery (大假山), and the inner section, added during restoration, covers only about two mu and includes an old stage relocated from a Zhabei guild hall.

What to look for

  • The Grand Rockery creates an artificial mountain landscape beside Sansui Hall.
  • Dragon walls and winding corridors divide the garden into separate scenes.
  • Dianchun Hall and the Exquisite Jade Rock provide distinct historical and sculptural focal points.

Location & getting there

Getting to Yuyuan Garden

Yuyuan Garden metro station is the named rail approach. Continue toward the garden entrance beside the old-city bazaar and distinguish its admission area from the surrounding shopping streets.

General visit reminders

Choose the building, exhibition or part of the historic area you most want to see, then leave time to explore its setting. Check the venue’s current opening and reservation arrangements directly; a place appearing on the map does not mean every building or gallery is accessible on your travel date.

Combine your visit

A suggested sequence linking the specific features of this visit.

  1. Sansui Hall and Grand Rockery

    Begin with the large artificial mountain scene.

  2. Dianchun Hall

    Continue to the hall associated with the Small Swords Society’s nineteenth-century history.

  3. Exquisite Jade Rock

    Compare the porous viewing stone with the larger landscape rockeries.

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.

AI illustration: A grey geometric lattice window in a white garden wall, with leaves and a natural stone visible beyond.
AI illustration · AI 示意图（景观类型参考，非实拍） · 园林漏窗与竹影 — A general visiting detail, not an exact view of this place.
Historic sites & architecture · 历史古迹／建筑 →

Find Yuyuan Garden

豫园 · 黄浦区

Amap · 高德地图Approximate pin · 近似位置Apple Maps · 苹果地图

The pin marks the area, not the entrance.

More places nearby

Approximate straight-line distances between map pins, not travel distances.

City God Temple 上海城隍庙

Less than 1 km away

Shanghai’s City God Temple is a Taoist religious precinct beside Yuyuan Garden. Its history connects the worship of local protective deities with the growth of the old city.

View guide →

Chenxiang Ge Temple 沉香阁

Less than 1 km away

Chenxiang Ge is a Buddhist temple and nunnery in Shanghai’s old-city area. Its quiet religious role contrasts with the nearby commercial streets around Yuyuan.

View guide →

Fuyou Road Mosque 福佑路清真寺

Less than 1 km away

Fuyou Road Mosque developed from a Muslim community that raised funds for a permanent prayer place in 1870. The building combines a traditional Qing-style exterior and interior arrangement with Islamic religious functions.

View guide →

Sources & visit information

The sources below support the place-specific description and arrival information. Suggested combinations are editorial planning ideas; confirm current opening, entry arrangements and transport services for your date.

Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikipedia contributors, “Yu Garden” · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1368666167.

Visitor information adapted and edited from Wikivoyage contributors, listing “Yuyuan Garden” · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Background paragraphs translated and condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "豫园", Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 92089236.

Background paragraphs condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "Yu Garden", English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1368666167.

China Revealed · Editorially updated 2026-10-07