Yu Garden & City God Temple

A Jiangnan private garden built from the Ming Jiajing era by Pan Yunduan, Provincial Administration Commissioner of Sichuan, covering about 2 hectares with more than 30 pavilions, terraces and towers and famed as "the most exquisite garden in Jiangnan": its star treasure, the Exquisite Jade Rock, is a Taihu stone uniting the four classic qualities of "slenderness, wrinkles, perforations and transparency"; the Great Rockery was the work of the celebrated Ming rockery artist Zhang Nanyang, and Dianchun Hall later served as the command post of the 1853 Small Swords Society uprising. The City God Temple outside the garden was first built in the Ming Yongle era and enshrines Qin Yubo, the city god of Shanghai in the late Yuan dynasty; the Nine-Turn Bridge, the Huxinting Teahouse and Nanxiang xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) make up the lively landmarks of the Old City, and the Yu Garden Lantern Festival has been inscribed on the national intangible cultural heritage list.

Getting there: Metro Line 10/14, Yuyuan Station