Shanghai Daguan Yuan, Urban park in Qingpu, China

Shanghai Daguan Yuan is a 135-mu garden complex on the west bank of Dianshan Lake in Qingpu, built from 1979 to 1988 to designs by Liang Yousong of the Shanghai Landscape Institute. Its central axis runs from a stone archway through Qinfang Lake to the three-courtyard Daguan Lou, backed by a 16-metre hill dug from the lake. Twenty-plus halls, including Yihong Yuan and Xiaoxiang Guan, flank the lake.

The park was founded in 1988 and incorporates architectural elements and garden designs rooted in Ming and Qing dynasty traditions. It was created to bring together these historical design approaches into a single space for visitors to experience.

The garden reconstructs the Grand View Garden imagined in Cao Xueqin's 18th-century novel 'Dream of the Red Chamber'. Its name comes from that fictional garden, and each residence is planted to match its occupant: bamboo and pear by Lin Daiyu's Xiaoxiang Hall, banana and crabapple at Jia Baoyu's Yihongyuan, vines at Xue Baochai's Hengwu Garden, and plain white-walled farm buildings at Li Wan's Daoxiang Village.

The garden lies on the west shore of Dianshan Lake on Qingshang Highway, about 65 km from central Shanghai, so plan a full day for the trip. The grounds are entered past a rockery screen and centred on a lake crossed by winding bridges and reached by a stream, so allow time to walk the whole circuit. The 42.5 m Qingyun Pagoda, with five sightseeing levels, stands at the front left of the grounds.

Within the grounds, visitors can explore replica residences from the novel, including Jia Baoyu's Yihongyuan and Lin Daiyu's Xiangxiang Pavilion. Walking through these recreated spaces gives a sense of stepping into the world described in the literary work.