Thousand-Year Chaixu Street: The Enchanting Carved Mansion

The Port Carved Mansion is a private garden from the Qing Dynasty, a classic meticulously designed by ancient people who infused their own fates into the passage of time. In the fourth year of Qianlong's reign (1739), a Jiangnan timber merchant named Yao started building the eastern building. In the early years of the Republic of China, it changed hands to local Confucian merchant Li Songru, who added the western building and wing buildings, and expanded the garden outside. Inside the garden, pavilions, towers, and terraces are charming and elegant; verandas, corridors, and winding streams flow gracefully, showcasing splendid beauty. Exquisite wood carvings like "May Your Happiness Be as Vast as the Eastern Sea" and "Rhinoceros Gazing at the Moon," vivid brick carvings such as "Lions Playing with a Ball" and "Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting," and profound stone carvings including "Five Blessings Arrive at the Door" and "Five Blessings and Longevity"—all are masterpieces of the carving art at that time, rich in essence and emotion. Films such as "From Slave to General," "Snowless Winter," and "Overture to the Eastward March" were once shot here.

Green bricks, black tiles, and cobblestone paths leave a lingering charm; each old house exudes the fragrance of time and tells tales of history's melancholy.

Built against the hill wall, half-hidden, a brick carving titled "Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting" is embedded in the pavilion wall.

This camphor tree crossed the river a hundred years ago, standing tall through wind and rain, growing into a giant.

Ascending this high tower, one can see the vast Yangtze River in the distance and overlook the full view of Chaixu up close. Inside the tower, there is a giant ginkgo root carving with nine coiled dragons. The ceiling and beams of the top floor are painted with 1,001 dragons, symbolizing the gathering of a thousand dragons, with one dragon leading, representing peace under heaven.

The stone boat can sail through the ancient moon, and the wooden raft rides well on the river breeze.

The north gate is located at the center of the northern wing of the Carved Mansion; the gate tower, one bay wide, is carved with multiple brick motifs symbolizing wealth, auspiciousness, and longevity.

In front of the Nine-Room House lies an ancient well called Qingyuan Well, echoing the distant Qingyuan Old Street outside the garden.

The thousand-year-old Chaixu Street, the enchanting Carved Mansion—the scenery is truly beautiful.