The Ge Garden is located on Dongguan Street in a suburb of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province. The Ge Garden was developed from the Shezhi Garden of the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). During the reign of emperors Jiaqing and Daoguang, Huang ZhiJun, a salt businessman of Huai'an and Huaiyin, purchased and rebuilt the garden. He planted 1,000 bamboo trees in the garden and took half of the Chinese character for bamboo(竹),   as its name(个)--   (Ge). The garden is famous for its layers of rocks that were shaped in a powerful style, especially the Four Season Hills.

Ge Garden uses bamboo and rocks as its principal elements and is characterized by stone-piling. Different rockeries are formed from different kinds of rocks to represent different scenes in the four seasons, hence the name 'four-season-rockery'. There are no other similar gardens anywhere in China. Compared to other plants, the garden gives priority to the bamboo. Using the grotesque shapes of the rocks, a distinctive scene consisting of bamboo and rocks is formed. It actually is a mixture of the grandness of the North and the delicacy of the South.

Yiyu Xuan is the center of the whole garden. The 'four-season-rockery' is made up of the spring rockery, the summer rockery, the autumn rockery, and the winter rockery. Twelve blocks of stone shaped like twelve kinds of animals such as a mouse, a cow, a tiger, and a pig are surrounded by bamboo trees and symbolize the rebirth of spring. Exquisitely carved Taihu stones, a kind of stone mostly found around Taihu Lake, sit near a lotus pool and represent the beautiful scenery of the South in summer. Huang stones (a kind of stone found near Mt. Huangshan ) whose shapes are bold and unconstrained are used in the biggest rockery to represent the loftiness of the hills in autumn; and Xue Stone (white Snow Stone) which glistens in the sunshine gives people the feeling that the snow has not yet melted. When people visit the garden they feel as if they have experienced the essence of the four seasons of the year.

The Spring Hill is a moon-shaped gate above which the Chinese character,  (written like three bamboo leaves), is engraved. Going through the gate one will encounter numerous slender bamboo trees and unevenly distributed stalagmites. The bamboo and stones form an enchanting picture of spring scenery. Heading north, one will find the Sweet-scented Osmanthus Hall, with rows of sweet-scented osmanthus trees planted in front and a limpid pond in the back.

The Summer Hill, which encircles Osmanthus Hall, is layered with rocks from Taihu Lake. The piled rocks along the pond produce a summer scene, complete with caves, a winding bank and stalactites.

The Autumn Hill is a yellow, artificial hill situated in the east. It stretches across half of the garden, with a total length of over 20 zhang (1 zhang = 3.3 meters). The hill consists of piled up craggy rocks. Stone rooms and stone bridges were modeled after the hill with a pavilion on top. It is said that when the sun sets, it feels as though autumn has arrived -- hence the name: Autumn Hill. 

Winter Hill lies beneath the east peak of the yellow artificial hill. It was built with layers of white stones that resemble snow. It is said that when sunlight is reflected by the rocks on the peak, it casts a shadow on the quartz, which produces an ice-like luster. Such construction material is rarely found in other gardens.

Other buildings include the Yiyu Veranda, Baoshan Building, Fuyun Pavilion, Zhuqiu Pavilion and Touyue Veranda.

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Ge Garden