The garden's name 'Qians Garten' goes back to Tao Qian (365–427 AD), a famous writer, whose 'Report of the Peach Blossom Spring' has been enjoying great popularity in China for centuries. In this narrative, a fisherman lost his bearing and ends up in the dreamland with the name 'Peach Blossom Land'. There, people lead a harmonious and carefree life in beautiful surroundings. Tao Qian describes here his hope for an ideal society and the longing for a harmonic life in accord with nature. In the sense of this philosophy, the architects designed the 'Qian Yuan' garden in Bochum.

Walkabout:

Already outside of the Chinese natural stone walls, visitors should be meditatively contemplate the simplicity of the South China design art. This is being achieved by artfully designed, sometimes round, but, also pierced wall openings, which point to a connection between inside and outside of the 'Garden in the Garden'.

On large step stones over an entrance basin, the visitor will reach through a wooden wing door the small entrance hall. On the left, a meandering colonnade runs into the garden - via a small bridge into the spacious main hall. From there, the visitor can enjoy a view over the whole garden landscape. A few stone steps lead down to the water pavilion.

A small colonnade branches off from the rearward part of the main hall, which will lead the visitor past four outstandingly pretty extensive garden designs (layouts and perspective views) in the form of stone relief to an antique fountain. Surrounded by seasonal flowers, a perfect illusion of rural life is being created.

The next picture presenting itself on the way – craggy rocks and a hut with a low thatched roof directly at the water – reminds of an old ferry stop. Past few high towering rocks with a few mountain paths, the path seems to end suddenly in front of a rock wall, but it runs into a dark fountainhead hollow. Then the visitor steps into the light again. Along the colonnade, he will finally reach a small island pavilion with a hexagonal layout, from where one has once again a view over the whole garden facility.

The original text is based on an article from the Free Encyclopaedia Wikipedia http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botanischer_Garten_der_Ruhr-Universit%C3%A4t_Bochum.