Shuzhuang Garden, originally a Taiwan businessman’s private villa, became a garden park open to the public in 1955. The park is divided into the Garden hiding the Sea and the Garden of Making-Up Hills. Feng Shu principals are used to incorporate man-made structures to work with nature, and maintain a correct balance of yin and yang energy. It was designed with three specific gardening requirements. Hence, man-made items add to what nature has already created in lieu of creating something completely out of place for its surroundings.
1.The art of hiding is accomplished by the fact that the ocean is hidden from view until you are nearly at the edge.
2.The art of combining movements is the positioning of the maze artwork into a slope containing rocks.
3.The art of borrowing from one’s surroundings uses the natural slope toward the sea to build bridges.
The rock maze built on the slope of the hill is wonderful. Narrow cement paths wind around walls made of rock and mortar, with some going through tunnels. It took a few minutes to realize that hidden within the walls were the heads of the 12 animals from Chinese astrology. Discovering that, I had to make sure I found and photographed all of them. At the bottom of the slope are two exits, or entries depending on your direction. Here, there was a narrow zigzag walkway crossing a pond with koi fish. This was great place to take a picture of the complete maze.
A zigzag bridge parallel to the shoreline, and nearly hugging the nearby boulders, seems to be very popular with the group tours as well as the individual travelers. This location offers views of the beach, with activities from sea doo and speedboat tours, to playing in the sand. Another direction looks up to the looming Sunlight Peak and another pond at the base of the maze. The beach in this area is not accessible without park entry.
Gulangyu has the most pianos per-capita in the world, averaging one in every five homes. Within the park is the Hall of Roaring Tides, where the Gulangyu Piano Museum is located. It houses over 40 antique pianos from around the world, and is the largest museum of its kind in Asia.
The gardens are used to breed subtropical plants as well provide a beautiful setting. There are more than 1000 types of plants cultivated here, and three nurseries for various purposes. One is for new types, one for experimental ideas, and a greenhouse for the flowers that beautify the expansive grounds.
The park, located on Tianwei Road, is open from 7am to 8pm, costs 30Y, and requires 2 to 3 hours.