Fang Ta Garden (Square Pagoda)

Lying in the old town of the Songjiang district with a rough distance of 30kms to the downtown, the site of Fang Ta Garden (Square Pagoda Garden) 方塔园 was once part of the hustling and bustling populating center in the ancient period between the Dynasty Tang and Dynasty Song. After the reclamation made in recent years after 1978 on the lands surrounding the ancient pagoda, the site turned to be an appealing destination for scenery appreciation and history learning.

The exhibits that prove the site's rich cultural history are nestling snugly in the central square courtyard that is enclosed by white walls and black tiles: an ancient nine-story pagoda, and an ancient screen wall with reliefs.

The nine-story pagoda (42.5m tall) is the Square Pagoda after which the garden was named, it is a wood-and-brick pagoda built in a period (1068-1094) in the Dynasty Northern Song, by practicing many of the structural features prevailing in the previous dynasty - Tang.

The brick screen wall decorated with sculpted reliefs is a great artwork completed in 1370 in the Dynasty Ming, its peerless size at the time (6.1m width, 4.75m height) and the exquisite figures in a wide range was the remarkable achievement accomplished by handworks, suggesting a high level of sculpting skills at the time.

The additional attractions including a central lake, the well-established vegetation, and halls and pavilions spreading along the pathways that wind across the whole garden, form up the great nature-touching complement to the site. 

Time cost for a thorough tour: 2-3 hours