A special treasure within the Botanical Garden is the Chinese Garden Qian Yuan, a classical southern Chinese scholar's garden donated to the Ruhr University in 1990 by our partner university, the Tongji University of Shanghai.
When this fragile construction turned out to have suffered severe damage from our harsh climate within a few years, the Chinese Garden Society was founded in 2000 to prevent the imminent razing of the building and to collect donations for its renovation. After the Garden was reopened in October 2001 the Society remained in existence and now pursues two important goals:
- to keep an eye open for new structural damage and to organize and assist in financing necessary repairs and maintenance work in coordination and cooperation with the Botanical Garden;
- to acquaint the public with the Chinese Garden and its affairs by means of guided tours and other cultural events.
Guided Tours
Spring has come and we will soon be repeating our traditional guided tours through the Chinese Garden. They will be scheduled at 3 pm on the third Saturdays of the months May through July and during the Botanical Garden Open Day on Sunday, August 20 there will be shorter tours at different times during the day. The exact dates of the regular tours are May 20, June 17, and July 15.
Because of the cramped space within the Garden the groups are limited to 20 participants, so that everyone will be able to see and hear the guide. But at each date we will try to provide two guides who can take two groups through the Garden at a slight interval. As always, there is no charge for the tours, but a voluntary donation for the preservation of the garden would make us very happy.
We hope to be able to set up a preregistration system later this year, so that no one will have to be turned away at the entrance. The details will be available here, so please revisit this page shortly before the tour you want to join.
Our Society now has a well maintained presence on Instagram. The account chinesischergarten_bochum has over 500 subscribers and new photographs are constantly being posted. When you can't arrange to visit the Chinese Garden in person, this is a good alternative way to experience its flair and inhale its atmosphere.
The creation of the Chinese Garden, as told by the architect
In the German-Chinese book Qian Yuan – Chinesische Gartenkunst in Bochum, the architect Prof. Zhang Zhenshan lets us partake of his thoughts while designing the Chinese Garden all the way through to its completion. Numerous drawings, explanations and fascinating details are complemented by stirring photographs. With great charm the book imparts well-founded insights into the art and philosophy of Chinese gardens.
The Society has purchased the remainder of this edition and the book is for sale at the reduced price of 10 Euros, either at the Campus Shop (Unishop) in the lobby of the administration building of the Ruhr University (Building UV) or from the secretariat of the Botanical Garden. Mail orders can only be filled by the Botanical Garden for an additional 5 euros for postage.
Flyer
Our flyer about the Chinese Garden and the Society (unfortunately only available in German) was last updated in 2014. You can download it below and either read it on the screen or print it out double-sided on a DIN A4 sheet and fold it into thirds parallel to the shorter side to obtain the original format.
To comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation, the membership application contained in the flyer can no longer be accepted. If you would like to become a member (which would please us very much), please download the current version, in German, via the link in the right-hand column.
