Qingpu Qu Shui Garden

Located on the banks of the Qingpu City River at No. 612 Gongyuan Road, there is an elegant park: Qingpu Qu Shui Garden. The entire garden is bordered by the city's protective river (Qingpu City River) to the east and the Qingpu City God Temple (with a small parking lot) to the west. It is as famous as Shanghai's Yu Garden, Nanxiang Guyi Garden, Jiading Qiuxia Garden, and Songjiang Zuibai Pond, and is one of the five major classical gardens in Shanghai. Qu Shui Garden was originally an affiliated garden of the Qingpu City God Temple, which was built in the first year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, with a history of over 400 years. Starting from the tenth year of the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty (1745 AD), the temple garden began to take shape, and Qu Shui Garden was constructed alongside it. In the forty-ninth year of Qianlong, Qu Shui Garden began to take on the scale of a garden and was named 'Ling Yuan'. In the third year of the Jiaqing era, it was renamed Qu Shui Garden. It was destroyed by artillery fire during the Xianfeng era, and during the Guangxu era, it took 20 years to successively restore the temple and garden, adding the Fangsheng Pond and Huashen Hall. In 1927, a rockery was added, and on the mountain, the Jiufeng Yilan Pavilion was built, from which one could climb high and gaze far at the nine peaks of Song County. The entire Qu Shui Garden wins with its water scenery, centered around the lotus pond, with the pond water connected to the city river. The halls are close to the water, and the pavilions lean against the pond, with mountains framing the water of the two ponds, making a stroll around the pond a necessity. The garden is entwined with wisteria, with pines and scholar trees swaying, camellias in various poses, and ginkgo trees reaching to the sky. At the entrance of the garden, there are pine and plum rockery bonsai, which are simple and elegant. The garden's architecture consists of green tiles, white walls, and green bricks, with lush trees and branches, abundant flowers and fruits, and is known for its 'spring cherries competing in beauty, summer lotus emerging from the water, autumn osmanthus fragrant, and winter plum blossoms dazzling'. I am originally from Qingpu, and I had an uncle who once worked in Qu Shui Garden. I remember visiting the chrysanthemum exhibition in Qu Shui Garden as a child. Recently, on a deep autumn day, I drove past Qingpu and specifically went to Qu Shui Garden to take some photos. The red maples in deep autumn were particularly gorgeous, and the ginkgo leaves were a full golden yellow. Qu Shui Garden is a garden with unique architectural value of Jiangnan gardens. The main attractions in the garden include: Yimen, Huashen Hall, Ninghe Hall, Lotus Pond, Fangsheng Pond, Jiyun Pavilion, Youjue Hall, Deyue Pavilion, Lvbo Corridor, Shigu Wen Shu Art Garden, and Qinglai Mountain House, etc. In short, every stone and water, every pavilion and pavilion in the garden is interesting, making it a great place for citizens and tourists to relax and play.