The four major gardens in Lingnan refer to the four classical gardens of Liangyuan in Chancheng District of Foshan City, Qinghui Garden in Shunde District, Yuyin Mountain House in Panyu and Keyuan Garden in Dongguan.

Among them, Liangyuan is located on the Pioneer Ancient Road, Songfeng Road, Foshan, and is the general name of Foshan Liang Family Garden. Built during the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns, the private family garden was carefully constructed by Liang Airu, who was an official in the cabinet at the time, and his nephew Liang Jiuzhang, Liang Jiuhua, and Liang Jiutu's uncle and nephew, so it was called Liangyuan.

The overall layout of Liangyuan is a combination of residences, ancestral halls, and gardens. It has the most characteristics of large-scale local mansion gardens, especially with strange peaks and stones as an important landscaping method. Among them, the four groups of garden groups have different styles due to their different conceptual orientations. Various Lingnan-specific ways of grouping landscapes, such as flat gardens, mountain gardens, water gardens, stone gardens, and water stone gardens, are available and varied. The cultural connotation of poetry, calligraphy and painting closely integrated with the themes of various buildings and scenic spots is rich and colorful. The carefully conceived gardens include the spring, spring, pillow lake, stars and autumn colors, cold fragrance and snow, and other spring, summer, autumn and winter scenery, all of which are different and interesting; Shizhai’s four scenic spots, including Shizhai’s sentiment, inkstone writing, quiet residence, and relic of the village house, show the characteristics of literati gardens, and combine the various cultural moods of the ancient Lingnan gardens, such as elegant gatherings, singing, reading and writing, family school mastering, secluded living and leisure Various cultural life pursuits of literati are vividly expressed and endless aftertaste.

Entering Liangyuan from the Pioneer Ancient Road on Songfeng Road, you will see the Bucaodi, Buddha Hall, Liang Family House, and the Cishi Family Temple. These buildings are all brick and wood structures, decorated with wood carvings and brick carvings. Elegant and refined. The garden builders cleverly connected the residences, ancestral halls and gardens together harmoniously.

According to legend, there are more than 400 pieces of Qishi in Liangyuan, which has the reputation of having more stones than books. Among them, the most attractive one among the Stars Cottage is Shiting. It pays attention to forming a single stone and forming a scene from a single stone, which is unique among Lingnan private gardens. The owner of Liang Yuan highlights the individual characteristics through the arrangement of monoliths and solitary stones, expressing the pursuit of human personality and free personality.

The strange stones in Taihu, Lingbi, and Yingde are cleverly arranged in the park. Standing or lying in the garden, or prone or reclining, it is very interesting. Among the famous stones are Su Wu, shepherd sheep, boy worshiping Guanyin, beauty mirroring, palace dance, chasing the moon, and leaning against the cloud. Most of the scenery stones are decorated with bamboo and wood and surrounded by ponds.

The layout of the Liangyuan is exquisite, the mansion, the ancestral hall and the garden are integrated, the Lingnan-style garden space changes repeatedly, and the style is elegant; the landscape of the garden is eclectic, and the pursuit of elegant, natural, and picturesque pastoral charm; rich in local characteristics The architectural style of the garden is complete, light and transparent; the garden is shaded by fruit trees, blooming like brocades, with curved water loops, pine banks and willow banks, forming a unique Lingnan water town charm; pavilions, lofts, halls, and bridges The pavilion, coupled with the dazzling array of wooden carvings and furnishings in the interior of each building, such as partitions, screens, carved windows, hanging, flower teeth, floor-to-ceiling covers, and all kinds of exquisite Qing Dynasty Cantonese furnishings, are full of beauty.

The building group of Qunxing Thatched Cottage is composed of thatched cottage, guest hall, Qiushuangxuan, ship hall and corridor. The building is exquisite and unique, although it is small in size, it is small and exquisite. These buildings are based on stone courtyards, mountain courtyards, and water courtyards. The buildings are spacious and transparent, surrounded by corridors, and they are fascinating. They are used to study the local characteristics, layout, and landscape of ancient literati gardens in Lingnan. The rare typical examples of issues such as cultural connotation, etc., show the ancient literati’s pursuit of staying away from the crowds and enjoying the pleasure of forest springs, and also reflect the yearning for garden-style houses and natural space environment in the Cantonese culture.

Pass through the delicate moon gate and arrive at the Fenjiang Caolu group. The use of water and stones here is even more ingenious: there are general stacked stones, and monolithic scenery; there are gurgling water and lake waves. The blue water ripples, the brocade scales swimming, the combination of movement and static is amazing. There is a beautifully shaped stone boat on the shore, a peculiar lake center stone stands in the lake, and across the lake is a wind and rain bridge combined with carved and painted pavilions, stone and wood. The pavilions are changed, the vegetation is complex, and the winding paths are quiet. The art of gardening by changing scenery is amazing.

The beautiful scenery of Liangyuan has attracted many photography teams to come here for shooting. The beautiful models add a touch of dazzling scenery to the ancient and elegant courtyard. Editor/He Yuting