Plum Garden Hengshan Scenic Area

[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The garden was built on Dongshan Mountain in 1912 by brothers, Rong Zongjing and Rong Desheng, who were both national industrialists and businessmen. Thousands of plum trees cover the area, resulting in the garden being aptly named Meiyuan (Plum Garden).

Here, plum trees are planted to beautify the scenery of the mountain, as the area proved to be a good environment for the plum trees to thrive. There are a total of 40 species of plum trees that can be found on the mountain with more than 4,000 plum trees sprawled throughout the garden.

Tips

Location: No 13 Bianjiawan, West Liangxi Road, Binhu district, Wuxi

Tickets: 60 yuan ($9.12) for single ticket

Opening hours: 6:00 – 18:00

Public transportation: No 2, 40, 52, 53, 72, 83, 87, 88, 89, 102, 131, 158 and Kuai 3 buses to Meiyuan Station

Take Metro Line 2 to Meiyuan Kaiyuan Temple Station

Parking: Parking lot near entrance, with 400 spaces

Note: The Plum Garden is divided into two sections: the New Plum Garden and the Old Plum Garden.

Recommendations

Nianqu Tower

The Nianqu Tower is a landmark of Plum Garden. It was built by Rong Zongjing and Rong Desheng to commemorate their mother and express their gratitude to their parents. You can enjoy a comprehensive view of the garden and Taihu Lake from the tower.

Huaxi Scenic Area

Huaxi Scenic Area has more than 100 kinds of plants as well as huge stone landscape. It shows a perfect integration of the Oriental and Western environmental arts.