Nanxun in Brief

The ancient town of Nanxun is located in the north of Zhejiang Province and to the southwest of Shanghai. The ancient water town was founded during the Southern Song Dynasty, which was about 700 years ago. Frankly speaking, Nanxun Water Town is just a very small one among so many water towns in Southern China. However, this water town bears more cultural atmosphere and less commercialization than any other.

During its 700 years of history, Although withstanding several centuries of war and turbulence, the high quality construction and buildings in Nanxun Water Town are amazingly well-preserved. Stretching along the ancient canal which divides the town into two parts, they still function as residences for the local people.

Besides the old houses, corridors, stone bridges and deep lanes like other ancient towns around, Nanxun Water Town is more famous due to the elegant and exquisite gardens. Most of these gardens are a combination of Chinese and Western styles. The most well-known gardens among them are the Small Lotus Garden and the Jiaye Book-Collecting Hall, both of which were built in the 1920s.

Main Attractions

Small Lotus Garden

The Small Lotus Garden was the private garden and the family temple of Liu Yong, a high ranking official during the Qing Dynasty. The garden covers a land area of 17,399 square meters and is divided into two parts, inner yard and outer yard. The center of the inner yard is a group of rockeries which were made from the stones of Taihu Lake. The lotus pond which is 5267 square kilometers is the theme of the outer yard. Also, the name of the garden was taken from it and Liu Yong's admiration of the Lotus Villa built by artist "Zhaomeng Zhaoye".

Jiaye Book Collectiong Hall

The Jiaye Book Collecting Hall is next to the Small Lotus Garden and itself is actually a mini-sized garden. The lotus pond, rockery and pavilion in the garden illustrate the delicacy and beauty of gardens in the southern Yangtze River area. There are over 600,000 volumes of books collected here. Nowadays, it is not only a scenic spot, but also a public library.

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