Zhu’s Family Garden (Chinese: 朱家花園) is located in Jianshui Old Town, Jianshui (建水) is a county in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture (紅河哈尼族彝族自治州), Yunnan (雲南) Province, China. The garden is elegant and beautiful, which earns its name of ‘Grand View Garden (大觀園) in Yunnan’.
The garden covers more than 20,000 square meters of which more than 5000 square meters are construction area, you better follow the guide to walk around.
There are two Xiulou (繡樓) in Zhu’s Family Garden, Xiulou means lady's chamber, which is used to house the unmarried women of the family in the old days.
Zhu’s Family Garden, as the name suggests, was built by the family of Zhu in the late 19yh century. This family originally was born in Hunan (湖南) Province then entered Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
Tourists can enter one of the Xiulou, it is small and dark inside, not as romantic as those described in the fiction.
The ancestral hall (祠堂) of Zhu’s Family is still well preserved, and seems to be intact from the Cultural Revolution.
Ancestral hall is a temple dedicated to deified ancestors in the Chinese tradition, it is closely linked to Confucian philosophy and culture and the emphasis that it places on filial piety.
Zhu’s Family Garden was built by the Zhu’s brothers in the late Qing Dynasty (1639-1912) as a private residence, the house group is in a well ordered layout, with 42 courtyards added small and big and 214 rooms in total.
