Ancient and little known history of Yuyuan Garden
Print Edition
YUYUAN Garden Malls. You know the one. Wall-to-wall tourists, sticky fingers full of tanghulu, and that explosion of red lanterns every year during the Lantern Festival. It’s the postcard version of Shanghai’s old town, and it’s hard not to get swept up in the noise, the snacks, the elbows.
But here’s the thing. All of that is surface. Beneath the crowds and the caramelized sugar is a place with layers. Not just another commercial zone but a living fossil wrapped in redwood and curved rooftops. Before it was a mall, before it was a festival ground, this was a private dream turned public maze, shaped by dynasties, devotion, and a city’s evolving heartbeat.
Step into Yuyuan Malls and the first thing that hits you isn’t the crowds or the smell of stinky tofu. It’s the architecture. Dark grey roof tiles. Blood red railings. Eaves that curl like calligraphy. Roofs stacked like a pagoda version of mille-feuille. The whole place is dressed head to toe in Ming and Qing style.
This isn’t your average commercial complex. It’s a time capsule with a food court. A photo-op dressed like a dynasty. And that’s exactly what pulls people in from every time zone. Yuyuan doesn’t just sell nostalgia. It builds it into the walls. This is old-school China laid out in perfect symmetry, dropped right in the middle of Shanghai’s concrete hustle.
Everything might look cut from the same cloth at first glance but the buildings inside Yuyuan each throw their own little spin. Case in point, Tianyu Building. It’s the big one. Tallest in the complex. Broadest too.
Tianyu’s main body stretches four stories high but then it goes even further, capped with a two-story pavilion called Ninghui Loft. Come early, and you’ll catch the morning light hitting those upper tiles just right. The whole thing lights up like someone hit a spotlight. Old school fengshui meets Instagram gold.
Here’s the part most tourists miss. Tucked behind the dumpling lines and souvenir stalls is the real star of the show — Yuyuan Garden. Yes, the actual garden. Not a replica. Not a themed zone. The original.
You can wander the mall all day for free, but the garden makes you pay to play. That little ticket booth draws a quiet line between snack-fueled chaos and centuries-old calm. Step through, and the volume drops.
The garden isn’t just part of Yuyuan Garden Malls. It’s the reason any of it exists. Long before there were neon signs and lantern festivals, this was a private retreat built in classic Jiangnan style. Winding paths, carved pavilions, hidden corners.
Yuyuan Garden was first built during the Jiajing and Wanli reigns of the Ming Dynasty, over 450 years ago. Covering over 2 hectares, it’s now referred to as the Inner Garden.
Originally, it was the private garden of Pan Yunduan, a Ming official who served as the provincial administration commissioner of Sichuan.
By the late Ming and early Qing, Yuyuan Garden started slipping. Maintenance faded. Parts got sold off. Then came the Qianlong reign and a group of local elites stepped in, and brought it back to life. But splitting ownership among a bunch of hands wasn’t exactly sustainable, so they handed it over to Chenghuang Temple next door. The garden became temple property. A temple garden.
During the Tongzhi years, trade guilds stepped in with cash and repairs. But with that came new tenants. Tea houses. Taverns. Market stalls. Even schools.
In 1956, the Shanghai government allocated special funds for a comprehensive restoration, working with Tongji University experts and skilled craftsmen. Schools, shops and residences were relocated, waterways dredged, pavilions restored and extensive greenery replanted. After five years of work, Yuyuan Garden regained its former elegance.
In 1986, the Nanshi District People’s Government invested over 6 million yuan (US$872,000) to launch a major restoration of Yuyuan Garden. The project aimed to revive the defining features of a classical Jiangnan garden. After the restoration, it emerged elegant and refined.
Huxinting Teahouse and the Zigzag Bridge are the scene stealers of Yuyuan Garden Malls. Tourists swarm them. Locals nod at them. Cameras love them.
Huxinting is known as the “First Teahouse in Shanghai,” and it wears that title like a crown. It wasn’t always a teahouse, though. Back in the day, it was just a pavilion inside the garden called Fuyi Pavilion. Then in 1784, it was rebuilt and got a new name — Huxinting, meaning the pavilion in the heart of the lake.
The Zigzag Bridge that loops beside it started out simple, with wooden railings hugging both sides. But after a fire hit Chenghuang Temple in 1926, the old bridge was scrapped. In its place came a reinforced concrete version, still zigzagging but now dressed in dark red pebble wash.
And, they added a new touch to the south — a two-story pavilion right on the water, topped with a curved roof and a hip and gable frame. That gave Huxinting the silhouette it’s known for today. Iconic, unmistakable, and very much at home.
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