Souvenir tickets album featuring Jichang Garden in Wuxi (Source: wxmetro.net)
BEIJING Aug. 23 -- Beijing MTR corporation issued its first souvenir tickets album in June to highlight to the passengers the renowned classical gardens Jichang Garden in Wuxi and its imperial replica Garden of Harmonious Pleasures in Beijing.
Jichang Garden, first built during the Zhengde era (1506?1521) of the Ming dynasty(1368-1644A.D.) was a private residence located at the Huishan Mountain, western Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, east China. Jichang literally means ?resort to the supremacy of mountains and waters to attain the pleasure.?
Garden of Harmonious Pleasures was first built in the 16th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1751). The Kangxi and Qianlong emperors of the prime time of the Qing dynasty(1644-1911 A.D.) each toured the Yangtze Delta six times where Jichang was the sine qua non site to stop by every time.
The emperors envied and loved the prosperity of residential life in the Yangtze Delta, so they asked to build their replicas in Beijing and that?s why gardens of this style are many in the capital city today.
The gardens on the Yangtze Delta are loved by people all over the country. They usually have a pond that is small and peaceful; a winding corridor, composed of over one hundred sections, connects the towers, pavilions, halls, chambers, bridges and terraces along the waterside. These ingeniously interconnected structures form a diverse landscape and become "garden within a garden".
The backdrop Huishan Mountain adds color to Jichang Garden, as it is a traditional residential spot embodying a sense of life and settings of the ancient China.
Here clay figurines have been produced since the Southern Dynasties Period (386-581) and are now the well-known folk art in the delta, famous for their bright colors and vivid imagery. And a museum exhibits over 1,000 outstanding pieces dating from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, where visitors can make a little figurine for themselves.
