Chinese garden welcomes German visitors

The Hamburg government offered the land and Shanghai invested the money to build Hamburg-Shanghai Europe Tourism and Cultural Center in 2006. Covering an area of more than 3,400 square meters, it's modeled on Shanghai's Yuyuan garden, a famous classical garden more than 400 years old, and only slightly smaller in size.

Visitors to Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany, mustn't miss the Yuyuan Garden — an ancient Chinese style garden set in the downtown area.

As twin cities, Shanghai and Hamburg co-started a program in 2006 – the Hamburg government offered the land and Shanghai invested the money to build Hamburg-Shanghai Europe Tourism and Cultural Center.

Covering an area of more than 3,400 square meters, it's modeled on Shanghai's Yuyuan garden, a famous classical garden more than 400 years old, and only slightly smaller in size.

However, according to Geng Baosheng, director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Hamburg, the operator of the garden is to offer it free to visitors for the next five years.

"It's fantastic news. We're still discussing the details. Students will have a terrific journey in a Chinese garden, and be able to put what they've learned in culture classes into practice," he says.

He says they plan to have cafes in the style of ancient Chinese pavilions, where people can enjoy Chinese tea and genuine Shanghai snacks.

"What Hamburg lacks is not a Chinese restaurant, but a Chinese culture center.

"Yuyuan, a symbol of the friendship between the two cities, is the perfect place for the Confucius Institute," Geng says.

"It won't be a commercial business. We will offer this place for Chinese-related activities for free. The aim is to let Germans know more about China," he says.

"It's our task to make more and more foreigners know about a real China, as many Germans get to know China from media."