Viewing Fish at Flower Pond
A remnant of a Southern Song official's private garden: the koi-filled Red Fish Pond is a family favorite, the peony garden blooms in spring, and on the imperial stele "Viewing Fish at Flower Pond" inscribed by Emperor Kangxi the character for "fish" is written with three dots instead of four, implying "fish are happier in water" (another reading: removing "fire" and keeping "water" as an auspicious sign); the stele pavilion is a popular photo spot
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- Open all day
- Ticket
- Free
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
A remnant of a Southern Song official's private garden: the koi-filled Red Fish Pond is a family favorite, the peony garden blooms in spring, and on the imperial stele "Viewing Fish at Flower Pond" inscribed by Emperor Kangxi the character for "fish" is written with three dots instead of four, implying "fish are happier in water" (another reading: removing "fire" and keeping "water" as an auspicious sign); the stele pavilion is a popular photo spot. Free entry; at the south end of Su Causeway, next to Taiziwan Park; crowds peak during the spring cherry-blossom season.
Getting there: South end of Su Causeway
Photos
More in Hangzhou
- Xixi National Wetland
Boat maze of reeds and water villages west of the city.
- West Lake
UNESCO lake of pagodas, causeways and arched bridges; boat or bike the shoreline.
- Lingyin Temple
Buddhist temple founded 326 AD amid grottoes of Song-era rock carvings.
- Longjing Tea Village
Terraced Dragon Well tea fields; tastings at family farms.
- West Lake Loop
A World Heritage Site (inscribed in 2011): an urban lake with misty hills on three sides and the city on the fourth, dredged in succession by two of its governors, Bai Juyi and Su Dongpo; Su Shi's verse "wishing to compare West Lake to the beauty Xi Shi" made it a byword for Eastern aesthetics
- Su Causeway & Bai Causeway
Su Causeway, 2.8 km long, was built from dredged silt when Su Shi dredged West Lake; six bridges span the lake, with peach trees and willows lining both banks—"Misty Willows over Six Bridges" is the top spring scene