Liyuan

Liyuan was built by Xie Weili, an overseas Chinese living in the United States, in 1936. The architectural style of Liyuan is a combination of Chinese garden and Western style. The biggest feature of Liyuan is a number of wide and connected canals, which connect the villa area, the grand garden area and the small flower garden area. The canals are also decorated with long corridors, bridges, pavilions, etc. There are six villas and a watchtower in the villa area of Liyuan, among which "Panli" and "Panwen" are the most spectacular. The sitting bronze statue of Xie Weili stands in front of "Panli". There are large-scale color murals, gold lacquer wood carvings, gray carvings and ceramic statues of folk artists in the late Qing Dynasty, as well as sanitary ware and water supply system exported from the United States in those years. In the park, there are four bridges and pavilions: Liyuan archway, xiushenliben building, Wanxiang, Danshui, Guanlan and yicui, as well as ancient Roman bird's nest and Huateng Pavilion, which are shaped like birdcage.

Liyuan

Liyuan is a national AAAA tourist area and a national key cultural relic protection unit. It is a private garden built by Xie Weili, an overseas Chinese living in the United States, in 1936. The garden integrates traditional gardens, Lingnan water town and Western architectural styles.

The garden is divided into three parts: large garden, small garden and villa area. They are separated by artificial river or wall, and connected by Bridge pavilion and corridor. There is garden in the garden and scenery in the scenery. In the villa area, there are six villas such as Panwen, Panli and one watchtower. The walls of China and the West are combined, which is magnificent. The interior decoration and furnishings are rich, luxurious and elegant.

geographical position

Liyuan, located in Beiyi Township, Tangkou Town, Kaiping City, Guangdong Province, covers an area of 11014.99 square meters and is a national 4A scenic spot. It was built in 1920s by Mr. Xie Weili, an overseas Chinese living in the United States in Tangkou town. It took ten years and was initially completed in 1936.

Architectural features

whole

Liyuan not only has the charm of Chinese garden, but also absorbs the western style of European and American architecture, and skillfully blends them together. It can be called the first-class garden among the private gardens built by Chinese overseas Chinese, and it is also a relatively complete famous garden combining Chinese and Western found in China.

The layout of Liyuan can be divided into three parts: villa area, big garden area and small flower area. The three areas are separated by artificial rivers or walls, and connected by bridge pavilions or corridors to the sky, which makes people feel that there is a garden in the garden, there is a scenery in the scenery, and the pavilions and pavilions are elegant and ingenious.

front gate

The main entrance of Liyuan is in the south corner of the villa area, and the "Liyuan canal" is next to the door (to the South). The word "Liyuan" above the middle of the gate, soft with hard, natural and smooth, was written by the calligrapher Wu Daorong in 1934.

a villa area

Enter from the main entrance, along the canal corridor westbound about 100 meters, then enter the villa area. There are six villas in the villa area and one ancient watchtower. Among them, the two villas "Panli" and "Panwen" are the most magnificent. Their roofs are built according to the "double eaves" style of ancient China, covered with green glazed tiles, which are skillfully elevated and become a practical heat insulation layer. The indoor floor and stairs are covered with colored Italian stones, which are still shining for more than 60 years. This is the skill of a skillful craftsman. It's amazing. The interior walls are decorated with large-scale color murals, reliefs and large-scale gilded wood carvings based on the stories of ancient Chinese characters; the Caini reliefs are "Liu Bei's three visits to the thatched cottage", and the gilded wood carvings are "the prime ministers of the six Kingdoms", which create vivid characters with exquisite carving and unique structure,. Western style fireplaces are installed on the walls of each floor; mosquito screen is installed on all windows; ancient lighting is suspended under the ceiling; acid branch furniture with exquisite workmanship is installed on each floor, which makes it simple, elegant, valuable and antique. Water and toilet facilities, such as pumps, bathtubs, toilets, water tanks, are purchased from abroad. The door is heavily locked, which makes people feel more mysterious. This can be seen from the family anti-theft facilities at that time.

Mr. Xie Weili's throne

If visitors can go up to the fourth floor to see the setting of "ancestral shrine" of Mr. Xie Weili, not only the construction technology is unique, but also the couplet of the shrine reads: "Zong Gongwei prospers the nation, and Zude protects the country. "It can be seen that the spirit of loving the nation and the country of the garden owner is really admirable!

In the west of the villa area is the big garden, which is arranged in the north-south direction (that is, sitting north to South), mainly with the "Liyuan" archway and "Benli Daosheng" archway as the axis.

Liyuan memorial archway

The Liyuan memorial archway, separated from the canal in the south, faces the "Tiger Mountain" in the distance. Around the memorial archway, there are two round iron "beating tiger whip" with a height of 20 meters and a diameter of 30 cm, standing majestically towards the tiger mountain, as if to suppress the evil power of the "tiger". It plays a role in straightening out the people's worship of geomantic omen at that time, and also sets off a more solemn and magnificent memorial archway. Stepping into the archway, you can see a carved granite stone lion on both sides, male on the right and female on the left, showing the spirit of a powerful tiger. Along both sides of the cement road, the goldfish pond leads directly to the "self-cultivation Li Ben" archway. Behind the archway is a large area of "well" shaped flowers. There is a group of buildings on the east side of the archway. In front of it is a Roman building with steel plate, concrete and stone rice, which is called "bird's nest" in unique workmanship. Later, a concrete building with beige and all flowers, which is special-shaped in workmanship, such as a birdcage, and a goldfish pond at the bottom, which is called "Birdcage" and "flower and rattan Pavilion".

Yupei

In the southwest corner of the big garden, there is a tower villa called Yupei. The villa is small and exquisite with first-class construction technology. There are four storey buildings, which are designed by the owner of the garden. They are imitated from ancient China, Japanese sleeping style, Italian Tibetan style and Roman palace style. Each floor is elaborately designed with four "red hearts" connected together to form a circular pattern with unique love. It is also set in the center of each hall and room with colored Italian stone mill. It is speculated that it is the feelings of the garden owner for the four ladies. This villa was built by the owner of the garden in memory of my concubine. It is very ingenious.

The basement of the big garden is a reinforced concrete basement, which is connected inside and outside by a secret passage. The garden is surrounded by winding corridors, which connect the whole garden building into a whole. It makes people feel more natural and comfortable.

Little garden

"Small garden" is located in the south of "big garden" and villa area, separated from the canal in the middle. A "Hongqiao" is built between the villa area and the small garden. On the bridge, a "evening (dawn) fragrance Pavilion" is built. Visitors can enter the pavilion and enjoy the garden scenery, which is of special interest. The characters written on the plaque of the pavilion seem to be late and dawn. When the sun rises, it can be called Xiaochun Pavilion. When the sun sets, it can be called late spring Pavilion. The composition of the small garden is unique, in the shape of "Sichuan". The park is separated by a "Wu" shaped canal, connected by a "playing with water" bridge in the East and a "Changchun" pavilion on the bridge; connected by a "Guanlan" bridge in the West and a "Gongle Pavilion" on the bridge. The small garden is mainly composed of three pavilions: yicui, Changchun and Gongle. On the top of yicui Pavilion, there are several ancient "Eight Immortals crossing the sea" figure gray murals painted with bright colors and vivid characters. On the top of the pavilion, there is a golden dragon and a hanging lamp, just like the Pearl it spits out, which is vivid and praiseworthy. The three pavilions are all built in style, exquisite and beautiful.

Changchun Pavilion

The five story white pagoda beside Changchun Pavilion is exquisitely made, exquisite, small and unique. It is said to be a deterrent to the southern "bingding zhurong" God of fire, in order to get rid of the intrusion of fireworks and protect the safety of the garden.

In a word, the whole park is not only unique in building composition, but also unique and novel in planting flowers, plants and trees. It adapts to the trend of the times and is skillfully arranged in a planned way. It is full of all kinds of famous flowers and plants, scenic trees, timber trees, fruit trees, etc. Today, with towering ancient trees and shady green trees, the garden pavilion is full of flowers and birds. In the center of the garden, the tourists can't forget to return. Unfortunately, with the outbreak of the Anti Japanese War, the garden owner Wei Li's family went to the United States, so the original project of the garden had to stop, which makes people feel sorry.

Tourism characteristics

Pearl in overseas Chinese garden

Liyuan, a shining pearl in overseas Chinese gardens, integrates traditional horticulture and the characteristics of Jiangnan Water Town. Among them, the unique architectural art style of Western combination is unique in Chinese gardens, which is comparable to the four famous gardens in Guangdong.

Located in genghua village, Beiyi Township, Tangkou Town, Kaiping, Guangdong Province, Liyuan is a garden villa founded in the early 20th century by the late overseas Chinese Xie Weili. It took ten years to build the park, and the whole project was completed in 1936. Relying on the Grand View Garden described in a dream of Red Mansions, the garden combines the classical architectural art of Chinese gardens and the popular villa architectural features of Europe and the United States at that time, so as to achieve the combination of Chinese and western, and thus has the reputation of "small View Garden".

Small bridge, running water, family

The artistic conception of Liyuan is "small bridge, flowing water and people". The garden is divided into three areas: large garden, small garden and villa area. They are separated by artificial river or wall, and connected by Bridge pavilion or corridor. There are gardens in the garden and scenery in the scenery.

In the villa area, there are six villas and one watchtower in the style of Panwen and Panli, which are integrated with Chinese and Western architectural styles. The external yellow walls and green tiles, cornices and brackets, are magnificent and unique with the ancient style of Chinese palace

Chinese PinYin : Li Yuan