Yu Garden

Yu Garden is a classical Chinese garden in the Old City of Shanghai, next to the City God Temple and Yuyuan Bazaar. It features over 40 scenic spots, including pavilions, rock formations, and ponds. A centerpiece is the Exquisite Jade Rock, a porous 3.3-meter, 5-ton boulder.

Don't miss

• Exquisite Jade Rock, a 3.3-meter, 5-ton porous boulder with a rumored origin involving the Huizong Emperor
• Grand Rockery, a 12-meter-high huangshi stone rockery with peaks, cliffs, winding caves, and gorges
• Dianchun Hall, built in 1820 and used as the base of the Small Swords Society from 1853 to 1855
• Wanhua Chamber, featuring a 400-year-old ginkgo tree in the front courtyard
• Inner Garden, with rockeries, ponds, pavilions, and towers, first laid out in 1709
• Dragon walls with undulating gray tiled ridges separating the garden's six areas

Tickets & tours

Ways to visit Yu Garden

Cheapest way inCustomized Private Tour in Shanghai The Bund Yu Garden Zhujiajiao5★ · 21 travelers3-10 hoursFree cancellationFrom$5 per personSee dates →Best full dayZhujiajiao Water Town and Shanghai City Private Day Tour5★ · 1,091 travelers~8 hoursFree cancellationFrom$246 per personSee dates →Private & flexible3-Hour Shanghai Yu Garden &Old Town Private Tour with Tea Tasting5★ · 23 travelers2-3 hoursFree cancellationFrom$81 per personSee dates →

Getting there

Know before you go

• The garden is accessible from Shanghai Metro Line 10 and Line 14 at Yuyuan Garden station.
• Yu Garden is a key site under state-level protection and was declared a national monument in 1982.

A bit of history

Yu Garden was first built in 1559 during the Ming dynasty by Pan Yunduan as a comfort for his father. Construction was delayed for nearly twenty years when Yunduan became governor of Sichuan. The garden was the largest and most prestigious of its era in Shanghai, but its expense helped ruin the Pan family. It suffered damage during the First Opium War, the Taiping Rebellion, and World War II, before being repaired and opened to the public in 1961.