Nowadays, among the many parks in Kunming, Yunnan, Yu Garden hidden on the bank of Wujiadui Caohai can be said to be very small. Even if you ask locals, most of them may not have been there, and they cannot even tell its specific location. But in the past, this "Yu Garden" was a household name.

Yu Garden, also known as Yu Family Garden, was once the private villa of Yu Enxi, the first person in Yunnan to make cigarettes and the mayor of Kunming during the Republic of China. It was also the grandfather of Yu Chengqing, a famous Taiwanese entertainer. Yu Enxi loved gardening and studied horticulture while studying in Japan. Later, after returning to China, due to poor Yunnan at that time, he could not contribute his talents. He only transformed the old house on Chongren Street in Kunming left by his eldest brother into a garden.

In 1930, Yu Enxi, then mayor of Kunming, presided over the renovation of nearby Huapu. He not only built Daguan Park based on the "Ten Scenes of West Lake", but also selected a private house on the south side of Daguan Park and designed it as a Chinese garden. So now people are accustomed to calling it the South Garden of Daguanlou. The current Yu Garden is mainly composed of Yuzhuang and Lujia Garden, separated by a waterway from the Grand View Garden.

Interestingly, although Yuyuan is the south garden of Daguanlou, there is still a certain distance to Daguanlou if you really want to walk from here. In the past, you had to take a human boat, but now you only have roads. Standing in Yu Garden, you can see the playground of Daguanyuan across the lake. Compared with the hustle and bustle of other open parks, you can feel a quiet atmosphere while walking in them. Occasionally, you will encounter one or two elderly people who live nearby coming for a walk here. The ticket price of only 3 yuan is the lowest among all parks in Kunming.

If you want to go to Yuyuan, start from Dianchi Road, pass Xifu Road and turn into a bend hundreds of meters on Yuyuan Road. You can see the words "Daguanlou South Garden" written on the bus stop sign, and the plaque at the entrance of the park is engraved with the word "Yuyuan", showing people its century-old vicissitudes.

As soon as you step into the main entrance of Yu Garden, you will see a very designed rockery surrounded by lush vegetation. Moving forward, you can see lotus ponds, streams, pavilions and towers everywhere. Yu Enxi cleverly combined traditional Chinese architecture with Western characteristics without appearing abrupt at all.

Although Yu Garden is not big, it is exquisite. It is both a private house and a park full of historical relics. A stone archway "Deep in Seeking Fragrance" is erected next to the pond in the park, and the inscription behind it is an ode to the orchids in the Yellow Valley, which is speculated to be taken from Huang Tingjian's handwritten poems of his predecessors; behind the rockery is written "Yuzhuang Building Stone Song", written by the calligrapher Zhao Heqing; Even the four dragon cypresses standing at the gate are nearly a century old.

The most eye-catching thing is a red-and-white two-story east-west building facing the gate. People are commonly known as the "Red Building" and officially named Jin Hou Building, which is taken from Yu Enxi's word. Most of the Jin Hou Building is above the water, and there is a white terrace on the top floor. The windows on three sides of the building are inlaid with wooden frame walls. Roman columns under the windows. The white embossed on each side are plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum in turn, combining Chinese and French elements well.

Around the 1930s, the opening of the Yunnan-Vietnam Railway officially brought French elements to Kunming architecture, especially Gothic architecture. Unfortunately, the Jinhou Building we see now was repaired and rebuilt in 1998. At that time, the building, which was on the verge of collapse, was demolished and this two-story building was built. However, the original facade is still followed, and the doors, windows, balconies, etc. are basically unchanged.

Opposite the white terrace of Jin Hou Tower is an island connected by a water bridge. There is also an octagonal pavilion next to the island. There are unknown small flowers around the pavilion. A few bamboos stretch out of the pavilion obliquely. Occasionally, the wind blows, and ripples arise in the water. Perhaps the island is located in a remote location and it is difficult to find a person here. The red bricks and blue tiles seem to have become a barrier, enjoying the tranquility alone.

In addition to the Jinhou Tower, the main attractions in the park include stone boat boats, ancient docks, etc. Coming out along the back garden is the ancient pier, which is said to have been built by Yu Enxi and Lu Daoyuan, the owner of Lu's Garden. Standing here, you can still see part of Dianchi Lake. When the sun sets in the west in summer, the scenery of the ancient dock is the most beautiful. The lake surface is dyed gold by the sun. The Ferris wheel in the distance, the spreading egrets and curling lotus flowers nearby make a beautiful scroll.

Even if we don't catch up with the beauty of summer, autumn and winter days are also interesting. Due to the good ecological environment in the park, it attracts a wealth of wild birds to spend the winter here. In addition to the common red-billed gulls, kingfishers, seagulls, gray herons and other birds will gather here. It is often possible to see many photographers carrying equipment with long guns and short guns to take pictures of "kingfisher remnants".

some pictures come from the internet