Yu Garden Admission Ticket Shanghai

Yu Garden: A Ming-Dynasty Retreat in the Old Town

Yu Garden was created between 1559 and 1577 by a senior Ming official as a peaceful retreat for his elderly parents; its name means a garden of peace and contentment. In its time it was regarded as one of the finest private gardens in southern China. Over the following centuries it changed hands, suffered in nineteenth-century wars and was carefully restored from the 1950s, opening to the public in 1961.

Today the garden covers about two hectares, small by park standards but cleverly designed so that every turn opens a new view. It was listed as a national key cultural relic in 1982. Many visitors ask whether Yu Garden is worth visiting when Suzhou's gardens are nearby: if you have only one day in Shanghai, yes, because it gives you a true classical garden right in the city centre.

Highlights Inside the Garden

Near the entrance stands the Great Rockery, a mountain of yellow stone about 14 metres high built in the Ming dynasty, with paths, caves and a small pavilion at the top. Further in, the Exquisite Jade Rock is a tall, porous stone riddled with holes; legend says that when incense is burned beneath it, smoke rises from every opening. Do not miss the dragon walls, whitewashed walls topped with undulating tiled dragon bodies that divide the garden into sections.

Between them you find carp ponds, moon gates, zigzag corridors and halls with carved wooden panels, Ming and Qing furniture and calligraphy. The Hall of Heralding Spring is linked to an 1853 uprising in the city, and the Inner Garden in the south is a quieter, more intimate space that many visitors miss. Allow about one and a half to two hours to see everything.

Planning Your Visit: Sessions, Tickets and How to Get There

Your ticket is valid for the session you select: the morning session runs from about 9:00 to 12:30 and the afternoon session from 12:30 to about 16:00. Yu Garden opening hours can change on public holidays and during the lantern festival around Chinese New Year, so check your confirmation. The best time to visit Yu Garden is right at the start of the morning session, before tour groups arrive, or in spring and autumn when the trees are at their best.

How to get to Yu Garden: take Metro Line 10 or Line 14 to Yuyuan Garden Station, then walk about five minutes through the bazaar lanes to the garden gate on Anren Street. Taxis can drop you near the Old Town, but the last stretch is pedestrian. Bring your passport, since the booking is made in your name and may be checked at entry.

Around Yu Garden: Bazaar, Tea House and Old Town

The garden sits inside a lively bazaar of rebuilt Qing-style buildings with upturned eaves, shops and snack stalls. Just outside the gate, the Zigzag Bridge crosses a pond to the Huxinting Tea House, one of the most photographed buildings in Shanghai. The zigzag shape was traditionally believed to keep bad spirits away, since they could only travel in straight lines.

A few minutes away is the City God Temple, and beyond it the narrow lanes of the Old Town. Muslim travellers will be glad to know that the historic Xiaotaoyuan Mosque stands in the Old Town nearby, and halal noodle shops run by Hui families are easy to find. The Bund is about 15 minutes on foot, so it is easy to continue there or to Shiliupu Dock for an evening river cruise.