Activities in Ge Garden

Geyuan Garden held the first Salt-merchant-style group wedding ceremony on January 1st, 2014. The groom, clad in long robe and vest, traditional Chinese wedding outfit for grooms, rode a high horse walking through Donguan Street, leading a group of musicians playing suona (a traditional Chinese musical instrument) and a heavily-adorned sedan which carried his bride who was in a red robe and a phoenix-shaped coronet (as opposed to modern western-style wedding dress). After a series of ceremonies including stepping over a saddle, a flamed basin, bowing to ancestors, parents and to each other, removing the bridal veil, offering tea to each other’s parents, the young couple finished the most important ceremony in their lives. Such a well-arranged traditional Chinese style wedding ceremony gave participating couples an opportunity to experience the traditional Chinese wedding customs and etiquettes.

During the Spring Festival holiday, Geyuan Garden holds many interactive activities and performances.

Staff of Geyuan Garden got together with local communities at the Mid-autumn Festival Gala “Let The Full-moon Witness Our Affection to Geyuan Garden”, which presented not only programs by professional performers of Geyuan Garden, but also those designed and performed by local people, let alone Taiwan-style programs which are quite rare in Yangzhou.

Yangzhou Qingqu ditty, with a history of hundreds of years, is one the first that were list as nation-level intangible cultural heritage. The “Song of Geyuan Garden Bamboo Branches” is a classic Qingqu ditty composed for the garden. Listening to this song that combines the life stores of salt merchants who lived in Geyuan Garden and the beautiful sceneries of four seasons here, one would have a fascinating experience as if travelling through 300 hundred years together with Geyuan Garden.

With people’s increasing demand of quality life nowadays, tailor-made travels will become one of the trends of future tourism. Compared with traditional modes of tourism, customized tours would make sure the travelers enjoy the convenience of joining tour groups while having the freedom and space of a self-guided travel.

Based on the possible expectations of most tourists and the unique tourist features of Yangzhou, we’ve designed three customized product lines, namely, a salt-merchant-themed leisurely travel, a zen-themed peace-seeking tour and a regimen-themed health-promoting tour. For each product line, there are various options, every of which could also be modified based on the suggestions of travelers. The one to experience the life salt merchants would be the main one during the Salt Merchant Cultural Festival.

It is hoped that these activities on the theme of charity publicity to celebrate the 7th anniversary of the founding of Yangzhou Volunteer League would enhance the influence of this organization as well as the development of charity activities in Yangzhou, attracting more attention to the disadvantaged groups such as impoverished students and the left-over elderly in Yangzhou city and its suburbs and bringing more compassionate people to the charity cause, and making doing charity a habit.

During the festival period from April 4th to June 16th, Geyuan Garden will be adorned with almost 10,000 wind chimes in various forms and types, making sweet sounding music when the gentle breeze passes by. Based on the themes of culture, blessing and gratitude, this festival will bring people a cultural feast at the most beautiful season when the city is full of flowers.