Have you visited the classical Jiangnan garden with over two hundred years of history, completely free of charge, in the Magic City?

The Qu Shui Garden was established during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and is a Jiangnan ancient garden with a history of more than two hundred and sixty years. It is known as one of Shanghai's five great classical gardens, alongside Yu Garden, Guyi Garden, Qiuxia Garden, and Zui Bai Pond. It is famous for its water features, with meandering streams connecting lotus ponds and changing shorelines, pavilions near the water, and kiosks by the pond; a mountain bridges two ponds, and visitors must walk around the ponds. Entering Qingpu city from the old East Gate, walking up to the city river bridge, before entering Qu Shui Garden, you first see the Green Wave Corridor. The Green Wave Corridor is built along the river, winding and simple, undulating and elegant, providing shelter from wind and rain, blocking the scorching sun, leading to a secluded path, and gradually entering a beautiful realm. Once inside the garden, it opens up with a lotus pond in front, a water lily pond behind, and a rockery in the middle. Truly, it is a Jiangnan classical garden with unique features, evoking longing and free-flowing thoughts. The nine-bend corridor bridge in the pond surrounds the pavilions and towers. Poems and couplets are carved on the walls, and old inscriptions are found between the columns. Outside the corridor, the water shimmers, and the setting sun reflects on the upper floors. It can truly be praised as: Qu Shui with spiritual charm, a garden full of fragrance. Historical records show that in the 44th year of Kangxi's reign (1705), during Kangxi's fifth southern inspection tour, he arrived at Songjiang Prefecture on March 25th, reviewed the stationed troops in Songjiang in front of the temporary palace on March 27th, and on March 28th, he personally inscribed 'Saintly Traces' and wrote a couplet 'The grace spreads throughout the land, nurturing all under heaven; the legacy reaches the Wu gathering, tasting prosperity for a thousand autumns.' He ordered the educational commissioner of Jiangnan, Zhang Ting Shu, to select skilled craftsmen to carve and hang it at the Kong residence to the north of Qingpu, Songjiang. In the construction of Qingpu Qu Shui Garden from ancient times to the present, there have been built three halls, one tower, two pavilions, one cottage, one studio, two verandas, one room, one pavilion, one boat, fifteen kiosks, thirteen bridges, and five corridors. If ancient garden architecture is a three-dimensional painting, then ancient trees are silent poems. For example, the oldest existing plum tree in China is the 'Jin Mei' from Huangmei County in Hubei, which is over 1600 years old, followed by the 'Sui Mei' from the Guoqing Temple on Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang, which is over 1400 years old. The oldest plant in Qingpu Qu Shui Garden is a wisteria planted during the tenth year of Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, now 276 years old, with a trunk circumference of about 0.62 meters, and is a city-level protected plant. The wisteria grows in a counterclockwise direction, with a strong and simple shape. In late spring, it generously blooms with clusters of light purple butterfly-shaped flowers, swaying in the breeze. There are also city-level protected plants that are 80 to 100 years old, such as the Cudrania tricuspidata, camphor tree, twisted locust, and Magnolia grandiflora. Ancient wars may destroy the palaces and towers built in ancient times, but there will always be ancient trees that survive! Ancient trees are the touchstone for verifying classical gardens. Here, you can feel the profound historical heritage.