Thousand-Seeking Flower Sea 🌸
📍 Address: No. 57 Xima River Road
📅 Opening Hours: Open year-round, 08:00–18:00 (extended to 20:00 during peak season)
🎫 Entry Information: Free admission (some themed exhibition areas require prior reservation)
Historical Origins ✨
The Thousand-Seeking Flower Sea was originally the site of the Ming Dynasty’s “Xima Garden.” According to the Jiajing Lin’an Gazetteer, this area once served as a resting place for southern grain transport officials who came here to wash their horses, named for its clear waters and lush vegetation. By the mid-Qing Dynasty, the garden evolved into a private retreat, planted with the Four Gentlemen—plum, orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo—drawing scholars and literati who gathered to compose poetry and paint, establishing a profound cultural legacy.
Architecture and Landscapes 🏞️
The scenic area is built along the Xima River, with its design incorporating classic Jiangnan garden techniques such as "borrowed scenery" and "view alignment," structured around the concept of “one waterway running through, nine winding corridors.” Key attractions include:
- Listening to Lotus Pavilion: Built during the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, this hexagonal pavilion features a curved roof with upturned eaves; inside hangs a fragment of a Ming Dynasty bronze bell;
- Hundred-Flower Gallery Walkway: Spanning 320 meters, it flanks both sides with over ten thousand flowering plants, showcasing cherry blossoms in spring, chrysanthemums in autumn, lotuses in summer, and plum blossoms in winter, changing with the seasons;
- Remnant Inscriptions Grove: Displays 26 stone tablets inscribed with literary works from the Ming and Qing dynasties, among which the stele of Wang Juemin’s Ode to a Garden Visit is particularly treasured.
Cultural and Historical Significance 🏛️
- Three ancient ginkgo trees remain within the garden, each over 300 years old, officially designated as city-level heritage trees;
- Listed in the “Zhejiang Province Heritage Landscape Protection Directory” in 2019, it stands as one of Hangzhou’s rare urban-suburban cultural spaces that seamlessly blend natural ecology with human memory;
- Each spring, the annual “Thousand-Seeking Flower Festival” is held, reviving traditional flower-viewing customs and featuring intangible cultural heritage performances including Hangzhou embroidery, paper cutting, and tea art.
Travel Tips 📌
- Recommended visit duration: 2.5 hours
- Best viewing seasons: March (cherry blossom season), October (chrysanthemum exhibition)
- Transportation: 800 meters on foot from Exit B of Xima River Station on Metro Line 3; Bus Lines 7 and 102 provide direct access
- Reminder: Picking flowers or plants is prohibited; open flames are not allowed; comfortable footwear is recommended
“A single garden holds a thousand years of elegance, half an acre of blooming fields carries timeless emotion.” — Thousand-Seeking Flower Sea is not merely a feast of flowers, but a reverberation of time.