Suzhou Keyuan Scenic Area

Suzhou Keyuan is a classical garden with a long history and profound cultural heritage.

During the Five Dynasties period, the site of Keyuan was the villa of Sun Chengyou, the governor of the Central Wu Army of Wuyue. During the Northern Song Dynasty, it was part of Canglang Pavilion. During the Southern Song Dynasty, it was the "Han Garden" residence. During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the land was incorporated into Dayun Temple.

In the 32nd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1767), a garden was built here and named Jinshanlin. Later, it was named "Paradise" with the meaning of "the benevolent enjoy mountains, the wise enjoy water". Because some people mistakenly thought it meant a place for pleasure, it was later renamed "Keyuan".

In the seventh year of Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1827), Liang Zhangju, governor of Jiangsu Province, renovated it and assigned it to Zhengyi Academy. In the 14th year of Emperor Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1888), Huang Pengnian, the governor of Jiangsu Province, rebuilt it and established the "Xue Gu Tang" and built the "Bo Yue Building", which housed 80,000 volumes of books.

1914: Jiangsu Provincial Suzhou Library (originally named the Second Library) was established here. 1963: Listed as a cultural relic protection site in Suzhou City.

The existing area of Keyuan Garden is 5,000 square meters, with a pond in the middle, open buildings, winding corridors, bright water and trees, and a spacious courtyard.

Main buildings:

Yiqingtang: Now renamed "Xinglintang", which is named after the story of ancient doctors who did not charge commissions but only planted apricot trees, implying noble medical ethics.

Haoge Pavilion: Located on the hill behind the hall.

Boyue Building: It was originally a place for sacrifices and book storage.

Xuegutang: The place where the head of the academy discusses academic matters with his peers and students.

Zuochunlu: Located in the southwest of the garden.

Zhuanyingchu: Located in the southwest of the garden.

Plant landscape: The park is densely forested with lush trees, mainly willows, as well as camphor, osmanthus, banana, oleander, palm, etc.

Ticket Information:

Peak season (April 1st - May 31st, July 1st - October 31st): 25 yuan/person. Off-season (November 1st - March 31st of the following year): 20 yuan/person.

Children under 6 years old or under 1.4 meters in height are free of admission. Minors aged 6 (not included) to 18 (inclusive), full-time university students with a bachelor's degree or below, and seniors aged 60 (inclusive) to 69 can enjoy half-price tickets with valid ID. Disabled persons, seniors aged 70 years and above, active military personnel of the People's Republic of China, and retired military cadres are exempt from admission fees with valid identification.

Opening hours:

November 1st - February 28th: 07:30-17:00.

March 1st - October 31st: 07:30-17:30.