The Grand View Garden Area of Shanghai
Located at 701, Qing-Shang Expressway on the east bank of the Dianshan Lake, The Grand View Garden Area of Shanghai is both a large classic architectural complex and a modern garden. It consists of the east and west scenic areas. The east scenic area has the Shanghai folk cultural village, the plum garden, and the osmanthus garden as its main scenic spots. The east scenic area is modeled on A Dream of Read Mansion, a Chinese classic novel by Cao Xueqin in the Qing Dynasty. It is a large classic architectural complex constructed using the traditional Chinese gardening art. It covers an area of 9 hectares, of which the classic buildings occupy 8,000 square meters, including 20 architectural complexes like Daguanlou (Grand View Tower), Yihongyuan (Cheerful Red Court), Xiaoxiangguan (Bamboo Lodge), Hengwuyuan (Lush Grass Court). The chambers in the garden are luxuriously and elegantly decorated; ancient and well-known trees are set off by red columns and colorful walls, giving tourists a sense of the grand royal garden and the graceful garden in southern China. Every plant in the garden fully embodies the fine mood depicted in A Dream of Red Mansions. In the east of the grand view garden is a piece of land of 100 hectares, on which are planted 340,000 trees. In addition, there are also some other scenic spots here like “Plums at the Hollow Bringing a Strong Sense of Spring”, “Willows on Riverbanks Signaling the Advent of Spring”, “Golden Snow and Lingering Fragrance”, “Flowers Competing for Beauty”, of which “Plums at the Hollow Bringing a Strong Sense of Spring” is the best place in Shanghai to appreciate plum flowers.