Dunedin Chinese Garden

Lan Yuan opened in 2008 and is one of a small number of authentic Chinese scholar's gardens outside China - built in Shanghai by craftsmen of the Shanghai Museum, disassembled, shipped to New Zealand in containers and reassembled here by the same team, using Chinese materials throughout including the Taihu rocks, the roof tiles and the timber. It is a garden of the Suzhou tradition: enclosed by a white wall with a dragon roofline, arranged around water, with a pavilion, a moon gate, a covered walkway and a small teahouse, designed so that views compose themselves as you move rather than being seen all at once. The reason it is in Dunedin is the goldfields: several thousand Chinese miners came to Otago from the 1860s, were taxed and legislated against, and the garden was built as an acknowledgement of that community and its descendants. It is small - about two thousand square metres - and takes an hour.

History

The idea was first raised in 1997 during preparations for Dunedin's 150th anniversary, and foundation stones were laid in March 1998, with the deputy mayor of the sister city Shanghai taking part. Much of the garden was prefabricated in Shanghai, then taken apart and reassembled here by Shanghai artisans; the only things not brought from China were the water, the fish, the plants and the concrete (Wikipedia, Dunedin Chinese Garden).

Highlights

• The Suzhou design - views composing themselves as you move.
• The Chinese materials - Taihu rocks, tiles and timber shipped from Shanghai.
• The moon gate and pavilion - around the central water.
• The goldfields link - the Otago Chinese community it acknowledges.

When to go

Any season - the garden is designed to work in all of them. Closed some weekdays in winter. An hour is enough.

Before you go

It is small - two thousand square metres, and an hour covers it comfortably. Ticketed. In heavy rain there is limited shelter.

Nearby

Toitu Otago Settlers Museum is next door; the Octagon and railway station are close.

Key facts