Shanghai Yuyuan Garden + Sihang Warehouse Anti-Japanese War Memorial Hall in-depth guided tour

▲ The Cloud-Piercing Dragon Wall: A 26-meter-long majestic dragon sculpture stands west of Dianchun Hall, featuring an imposing clay dragon head held high and over 5,000 overlapping tiles forming its scales. The dragon's body appears to leap through the clouds, creating a spectacular phenomenon called "Dragon Holding the Golden Crow" on clear days when the setting sun appears embedded in the dragon's mouth.

▲ Yule Pavilion's water flow design: the spatial magic of blending reality and illusion The ingenious use of the partition wall across the water: featuring a solid upper section and open lower structure. A brick wall spans the stream, with the solid upper part concealing the nearby water's end, while the lower section incorporates semicircular archways and lattice windows. The water meanders out through the archways, cleverly disguising the limited water source and creating the visual illusion of "endless flow."

▲ Framing the view like a painting: Using the window as a natural frame to capture the garden's finest scenes, creating a static three-dimensional artwork.

▲ The Treasure Vase Gate encapsulates the wisdom of Eastern garden design - a single opening that not only divides physical space but also connects the desire for blessings with natural aesthetics, turning architecture into a flowing, philosophical poem. The character for "vase" (píng) is a homophone for "peace" (píng), so the Treasure Vase Gate symbolizes a wish for "peace and safety," transforming a folk belief into architectural language and reflecting the Ming dynasty garden owner's prayer for their family's well-being.

▲ The foreground features the Zigzag Bridge at the heart of Yu Garden Mall (its 104 granite slabs carved with flowers representing each month, from January's narcissus to December's wintersweet, embodying the garden philosophy of seasonal cycles in every step); The middle ground showcases the upturned eaves of the Mid-Lake Pavilion Teahouse; The background reveals the modern skyscraper silhouette of Shanghai Tower.

▲ At Yu Garden Mall, the bridge section in front of Huxinting Teahouse features special lotus and cloud relief decorations, while the white marble statue of a lotus fairy in the pool greets visitors with a smile, creating an artistic water corridor.

▲ Decoding battlefield details: The Western Wall bears 430 bullet holes, the deepest reaching 3 cm, with machine gun trajectories invisible to the naked eye. Professional narration recreates the decisive moment when Chen Shusheng leaped from the window with grenades strapped to his body, connecting the trembling handwriting of his final note—"sacrificing life for righteousness"—to its profound spiritual essence.

▲ Based on wartime footage of the Sihang Warehouse exterior captured by war correspondents, this restoration recreates the warehouse as it appeared in 1937.

▲ The 298 Final Letters of Sihang Warehouse: A Collective Oath of National Integrity A Collective Writing in the Face of Life and Death Mobilizing the Farewell Letters On the night of October 26, 1937, Xie Jinyuan ordered all soldiers inside the warehouse to write letters home: "Every warrior must leave final words for their families, expressing their unwavering resolve to defend the homeland, even at the cost of their lives." A unique scene of mutual aid unfolded: literate soldiers wrote on behalf of their illiterate comrades, as over 400 officers and troops completed 298 letters. These letters contained filial devotion to parents, parting words for wives and children, and heartfelt declarations of love for their country.

▲ During the Battle of Shanghai in 1937, Xie Jinyuan wrote a letter to his parents at the Sihang Warehouse, excerpted as follows: "A true man lives with honor and must die with integrity. I have deeply contemplated the meaning of life and death—to seek virtue and attain it, whether as weighty as Mount Tai or as light as a feather. Even if I die today, my heroic spirit will be remembered for eternity. Therefore, I have never feared the perilous circumstances of this moment. If the enemy captures me, it will be the day I achieve righteousness. Every man must die once, and to die in such a time and place is truly a joyous end to life."