Dunedin Chinese Garden - History and Construction

History and Construction

The idea of creating a Chinese Garden in Dunedin was first raised in 1997 during preparations for the city's 150th anniversary commemorations, which were to take place the following year. As there are strong Chinese elements in the city's history, it was deemed appropriate to create such a garden. A Chinese Garden committee was formed, headed by Dr. James Ng, and a site was chosen close to the city's historic railway station and the Otago Settlers' Museum.

Initially there was some concern that the site would prove too windy, and a small but vocal part of the Dunedin population was opposed to the garden's construction. Despite these concerns, foundation stones were laid by delegates from the gardens committee and Dunedin City Council, as well as the deputy mayor of Dunedin's Chinese sister-city, Shanghai, in March 1998. Much of the cost of the project was raised by public donations, though the New Zealand Government announced in 2006 that it would support the project to the tune of NZ$3.75 million.

The garden is an authentic Chinese Garden, having been created with the support of the Dunedin City Council and the Shanghai Municipal Government. It cost $7 million to construct. The garden is New Zealand's only authentic Chinese Garden and one of only three outside China - the first of its kind to be built in the southern hemisphere.

The design of the garden evolved over the course of eight years of planning to ensure functionality, accuracy, and authenticity. The garden is in the traditional yuanlin (園林) style, and was designed by Cao Yongkang of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Chen Ling of Tongji University, and Tan Yufeng of Shanghai Museum. They used as their basis the traditional gardens of the Jiangnan area, specifically because these gardens represent the apogee of Chinese garden style while at the same time being suitable for small sites in urban settings. Construction and design was closely supervised by Shanghai Museum and architects from that city. Much of the garden was pre-fabricated in Shanghai on a site identical to that in Dunedin, then dismantled and re-assembled in New Zealand with the help of Shanghai artisans.

The garden was blessed in June 2008, in the presence of Prime Minister Helen Clark and Chinese ambassador Zhang Yuanyuan and opened to the public the following month. Prime Minister Clark returned to officially open the garden in September 2008.