Thismagnificent twostorey building is CuiAiLou. It is a theater platform in the templeof the God of Fire, originally located in downtown Shanghai. It was relocated to this garden in1984. The front of the house is wide and imposing. The second floor extends outin the middle and is florally decorated with upturning eaves.
The platformhas an arch which is pieced together with hundreds of bird’s head motifs. Inthe middle of the arch there are two dragons vying for a pearl. Do have a lookat their scales; the dragons are painted in great detail. It is a typical pieceof architecture from the Qing Dynasty.
The StoneEnjoy House is inside the theater platform. It is a place where the strangeshaped rocks are displayed. These were donated by Mr. Hu Zhaokang, the formerChairman of Hong Kong Rico Hero Limited Company. Stone collecting is one of theold traditions in Chinese culture. People collected strange rocks down throughthe ages and believe strange rocks are live creatures of nature. Mr Hu’scollection is very big. The collection is an enjoyable one and tourists do tendto linger here a while.
On leavingthe courtyard, you will find yourself in a forest of bamboo. You already knowthe name of Yi garden was a quotation from the Book of Songs: Green Bambooyiyi, yiyi is the image of flourishing plants. Bamboo has always been the maintheme of this garden. In 1984, the garden was extended by 30 acres and the landwas planted with a bamboo forest called the Bamboo Garden.
The newbamboo garden was completed in 1988. It is the biggest bamboo garden in Shanghai, - a bamboomuseum.
There are many specialspecies of bamboo here: for instance, AMITA BUDDHA bamboo, square bamboo whichhas square shaped stock; purplecolored bamboo; and four seasons bamboo whichproduces bamboo shoots in all four seasons, etc.Please walk straightahead to the east and you will soon enter the new quarter of the garden, YouHuangYanYue
