1. Things To Know Before You Go
Tang Paradise, also named Datang Furong Garden (大唐芙蓉园). As the largest cultural theme park in Shaanxi Province, it owns the largest Tang Dynasty-style building complex in China. Currently, it is a tourist attraction for sightseeing and even combines the culture and life of the Tang Dynasty through a rich variety of exhibitions and performances so as to strengthen the visual experience of tourists. For example, performances such as "Dreaming Back to the Great Tang Dynasty" and "Chasing the Dream of the Tang Dynasty", presenting the thriving Tang Dynasty by means of modern artistic techniques.
In addition, there are some glories given to this paradise, namely the world's largest outdoor aroma project and the world's largest Waterscreen Film location, and all of these are waiting for visitors to discover their beauty.
2. Why Is Tang Paradise So Special?
2.1 The Tangible Benefits Bring To Tourists
Whether you are a history enthusiast or an ordinary tourist, this Furong Garden is a place not to be missed.
Firstly, the lighting project in the garden is excellent. When night falls, pavilions, terraces, corridors, bridges and waterside pavilions take on a unique charm under the illumination of lights, therefore, creating an illusory yet real charm of the Tang Dynasty.
Secondly, the Tang Paradise features a unique architectural style, which is highly suitable for taking ancient-style photos. Whether it is the magnificent Ziyun Tower, the gorgeous Elegant Lady Area, or the poetic Sunset Long Corridor and other buildings, they are all perfect for taking ancient-style photos. When tourists put on ancient costumes and take pictures in front of these Tang Dynasty-style buildings, it seems as if they have traveled back a thousand years ago with a strong ancient charm.
Thirdly, this Furong Garden features in a strong cultural atmosphere. There are some rich cultural performances and activities, the classic examples are "Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty"(梦回大唐) and "Chasing the Dream of the Tang Dynasty"( 大唐追梦) ."Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty" is staged in the Phoenix Theater, unveiling the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty and the spiritual features of society. "Chasing the Dream of the Tang Dynasty" is a large-scale water dance light show. Through the integration of top-notch technology and historical culture, it creates a unique dreamy experience of light and shadow associated with cruise ships. Apart from this, some free performances like "Tang Dynasty Dongcang Drum Music", "Golden Armored Cavalry Parade", and "Huji Tavern Sitcom" in the garden, allowing visitors to have an in-depth understanding about the Tang Dynasty.
Overall, tourists can benefit a lot from visiting this unusual garden combined with a visual feast, which means that they can travel back to the Tang Dynasty during the day by wearing Hanfu(汉服) and enjoy the brilliant night performances in just one day, so it is really splendid and amazing!!
2.2 Attractions Overview
2.2.1 Geographical Features
Tang Paradise is located in the Qujiang New Area of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province and it was built to the north of its original site, covering an area of 1,000 mu(164.74 acres) with 300 mu(49.42 acres) of water surface and a total investment of 1.3 billion. As the largest cultural theme park in the northwest region, it is the first large-scale cultural theme park with imperial garden-style in China to comprehensively reveal the features of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
2.2.2 Tourism Resources
Datang Furong Garden is the National 5A tourist attraction, its famous attractions include Ziyun Tower(紫云楼), Elegant Lady's Hall (仕女馆), Imperial Banquet Palace(御宴宫), Fanglin Garden(芳林苑), Phoenix Theater(凤鸣九天剧院), Apricot Garden(杏园), Lu Yu Tea House(陆羽茶社), Tang Market(唐市), Qujiang Liuyin(曲江流饮), etc.
2.2.3 Architecture Characteristics
The architectural styles in Tang Paradise are magnificent with exquisite details, since its architectural design adopts a wooden structure system and most of the building materials are wooden products and stones. What's more, the floors are made of stones, artistic bricks, wooden products, plus the reliefs and murals in the garden are in the form of huge, whole-wall panoramic scrolls.
Consequently, all of these unveils the magnificence and grandeur of the architecture in the Tang Dynasty.
2.2.4 Festival & Culture
The night view of Datang Furong Garden is resplendent with colors, tourists can pay attention to the night views of Tang Culture Corridor, Fanglin Garden, Ziyun Tower, which really make Tang Paradise incredible. In addition, there are some performances such as Qi Tian Drum Dance, the "Imperial Music and Dance" performance, the large-scale dance drama "Dreaming Back to Tang Dynasty" staged in Phoenix Theater, all of them are the excellent experience not to be missed.
3. How To Get To Tang Paradise
There are convenient transportation modes in Tang Paradise, and tourists can choose to go there by bus, subway or self-driving.
Subway: It is recommended to take Metro Line 4 which goes directly to the west gate of this garden.
Bus: There are multiple bus lines passing through the west gate, such as Line 22, Line 23, Line 24, etc.; bus lines like Line 22, Line 24, Line 161 past through the south gate for alternative choices, several parking lots are available within the garden, which make it possible for self-driving tourists to park their vehicles.
Address of Datang Furong Garden: No. 99 Furong West Road, Qujiang New Area, Xi'an City.
Remarks: Its west gate and south gate are open in Tang Paradise, the west gate is the main entrance, so most tourists enter the garden through this gate.
Ticket prices and opening hours of the scenic spot
120 RMB for adults / 60 RMB for minors aged 6 to 18, the opening hours are from 9:00 to 22:00.
4. Highlights Of Tang Paradise
4.1 Silver Bridge And Flying Waterfall 银桥飞瀑
The design of this scenic spot is inspired by the legend of "the epiphanic White Dragon" in the Tang Dynasty. It is said that this was the place where the wooden dragon transformed into a real white dragon and brought rain. When tourists arrive at this spot and walk in the bridge, looking at the steep rocks and the thick mist in front of them, it seems that the white dragon will soar up from the water in the next second.
4.2 Caixia Long Corridor 彩霞长廊
As one of the important architectures in Tang Paradise, it was first built in the thriving Tang Dynasty and composed of Golden Pavilion, Jade Pavilion and a long corridor, with a total length of 270 meters. This is a wonderful cultural story corridor that reflects the various aspects of the lives of women in the Tang Dynasty and also the best place to enjoy the stunning scenery of Furong Lake as well as overlook at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda at a distance.
There are two uniquely shaped and exquisitely small pavilions in the Caixia Long Corridor, named the Golden Pavilion and the Jade Pavilion respectively, their names are derived from the meanings of "a perfect match", "a golden boy and a jade girl", symbolizing people's longing and aspiration for beautiful love and a happy life.
4.3 Elegant Lady's Hall 仕女馆
It showcases the spiritual features of women in the open era of Tang Dynasty, namely "the heroic charm of women, daring to compete with men in the world, with three thousand tender feelings, leaving a good name throughout history". Caixia Pavilion and Elegant Lady's Hall, with the architectural style of combining pavilions and corridors, have mirror columns set up inside, which display the various aspects of the lives of 100 outstanding women in the Tang Dynasty, so they are well worth visiting.
4.4 Ziyun Tower 紫云楼
As one of the three famous towers in Chang'an, Ziyun Tower is located in the central position of Datang Furong Garden and is also the largest and most representative building with traditional features in the whole garden. The Ziyun Tower consists of one main building, four corner towers, and several long corridors, annex buildings, gates and other single structures. Among them, the main building and the corner towers are connected by arched bridges. Actually, the main building of Ziyun Tower is a high-platform architecture adopting the double-eaved hip-roof style, which makes it stand out from other buildings.
4.5 Phoenix Theater 凤鸣九天剧院
It is situated to the north of the south gate of Tang Paradise, facing the Ziyun Tower, which is the main landscape in the northern part of the park. This is a modern imperial theater that embodies the charm of the prosperous Tang Dynasty and is the core performance area for themed shows in the garden. The theater is uniquely designed, with four golden phoenixes spreading their wings and dancing, stretching their necks and singing on it, hence reflecting the name and function of the theater.
The main program of the theater is the song and dance epic "Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty", it is a dance drama associated with the charm of Tang Dynasty, the essence of songs and dances, gorgeousness and fantasy, and mystery and dreaminess together by means of modern artistic techniques, hence offering tourists an extravagant visual feast.
4.6 Lu Yu Tea House 陆羽茶社
It is named after Lu Yu, the Sage of Tea, and adopts the traditional Chinese courtyard architectural style with one house, one veranda, one pavilion and one corridor connected to each other, this tea house is arranged in an open water courtyard with winding corridors and painted bridges cleverly connecting them, presenting a calm atmosphere. In Lu Yu Tea House, tourists can not only drink extremely delicious tea but also watch excellent tea art performances, because it integrates tea ceremony performances and casual tea-tasting together, which may bring them the distinctive feel.
Around the Lu Yu Tea House, there is a group of exquisite tea utensils, they are made by imitating the tea utensils unearthed from the underground palace of Famen Temple in 1987 and their sizes are respectively enlarged by about 8 to 10 times so as to display the court tea art and the differences between the way the Tang people drank tea and how we drink tea today. The essence of the tea ceremony lies in "purity, tranquility, elegance and harmony", but "harmony" is the highest realm of the tea ceremony.
4.7 Apricot Garden 杏园
The Apricot Garden is a tang style simulation building with a courtyard style and taking"Apricot" as the main scene. The halls and the surrounding corridors set each other off quite interestingly. In front of the main hall, Confucius, the Sage of Literature in ancient China, is enshrined. The people in the Tang Dynasty regarded apricot blossoms as the flowers symbolizing success in the imperial examinations under the spring breeze. Therefore, the Apricot Garden became the place where the newly promoted scholars held the "Flower-Viewing Banquet".
4.8 Theme performances
4.8.1 Large-scale Laser Water Screen Film "Dream Pursuit In The Great Tang Dynasty" 大型激光水幕电影“大唐追梦”
It mainly combines various elements such as laser, water curtain and music to create a dreamlike visual feast on the water. The performance features "Li Bai, the Immortal of Poetry" as the central figure and takes the tune of "Qiang Jin Jiu" as the keynote. Relying on the magnificent landscape and garden scenery, through the interpretation of scenes and stories as well as the application of various new technologies, it creates a romantic artistic conception that traverses thousands of years and links the past and the present, allowing the audience to truly experience the simple and rich cultural flavor of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
This water screen film is a very special scenic spot in Datang Furong Garden. When night falls, visitors standing on the steps of the North Square of Ziyun Tower can see vivid three-dimensional figures presented on the broad water screen, looking extremely lifelike. When the colorful fireworks bloom in the air, their glittering reflections are cast in the lake. Coupled with the beautiful music, along with the leaping flames rising in the fountain, the water mines exploding in the water mist, and the lasers flashing in the night sky, tourists will be amazed by the wonders of water and fire, and the changes of light and color. It seems as if they have traveled through a time tunnel and walked into the distant Tang Dynasty to experience the glorious Great Tang.
Performance time: 20:30-21:20
Performance venue: North Square of Ziyun Tower
4.8.2 Dreaming Back To The Tang Dynasty 梦回大唐
The performance of "Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty" is rich and colorful, including scenes such as "Sleepwalking in Qujiang" and "Tang Market". During the performance, the audience can see the magnificent court performances in the Tang Dynasty, the scenes of officials offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, and the display of the costumes of the beautiful ladies in the Tang Palace, etc. The whole performance comes to an end with grand fireworks as a climax, leaving a deep impression on the visitors.
Performance Time: 17:00 - 18:10
Performance Venue: Phoenix Theatre
4.8.3 Tang Dynasty Court Banquet Music "Drums"唐代宫廷燕乐·《鼓》
As the intangible cultural heritage of humanity - Dongcang Drum Music, Tang Paradise has further enhanced and sublimated the original Dongcang Drum Music, and centrally demonstrated the essence of ancient Chinese cultural arts, especially the traditional principle of classical music that "one cannot grasp its essence without learning it through oral instruction and mental comprehension", as well as the spirit of generations of musicians who have passed on the soul of drum music with their lives. Therefore, they are radiating with tremendous vitality now.
Performance Time: 15:00 - 15:35, 19:00 - 19:35
Performance Venue: The third floor of Ziyun Tower
5. Suggested Tour Routes And Attractions
Entering the park from the west gate (the main entrance): The recommended route is Tang Culture Square → Tang Music Garden → Tang Poetry Garden → Tang Style Garden → Tang Martial Arts Garden → Tang Tea Garden → Tang Commercial Street.
The following are the main scenic spots in Datang Furong Garden for visitor's reference.
Ziyun Tower: One of the most important groups of Tang Dynasty-style buildings in the whole park. Historically, Ziyun Tower was the place where Emperor Xuanzong of Tang held banquets and bestowed favors on his ministers.
Phoenix Theater: Regular performances of court music and dance of Tang Dynasty are staged in the theater.
Tang Market: It recreates the prosperous trading scene of Chang'an City in the Tang Dynasty, so various souvenirs in Tang Dynasty style can be purchased here.
Imperial Banquet Palace: It offers imperial banquets in the style of the Tang Dynasty, and tourists can taste the court cuisine of the Tang Dynasty.
Fanglin Garden: It is famous for its flowers and provides beautiful landscapes in different seasons.
Elegant Lady's Hall: With the theme of showing the spiritual features of women in the Tang Dynasty, it consists of a group of Tang Dynasty-style buildings centered around Wangchun Pavilion (望春阁).
6. Best Time To Go
The best time to visit Tang Paradise is after 15:00 in the afternoon. Because most of free performances in the park start at this time and tourists can better experience the cultural activities in the park. If visitors want to watch large-scale performances, it is recommended to enter the park around 18:00 in the evening so that they can enjoy wonderful shows such as "Chasing the Dream of the Tang Dynasty" and "Dreaming Back to the Tang Dynasty".
7. Attractions Nearby Tang Paradise
7.1 Giant Wild Goose Pagoda 大雁塔
The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is located in the Da Ci'en Temple in the Yanta District of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. It was first built in the third year of Yonghui in the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty (652 AD) for the purpose of preserving a large number of Buddhist scriptures and Buddha statues brought back by Master Xuanzang(玄奘) from India. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda is a famous Buddhist building in the Tang Dynasty and also one of the representatives of ancient Chinese architectural art.
Currently, it is not only a representative of Buddhist architecture but also has extremely high cultural value. Inside the pagoda, there are exhibited Buddhist relics, stone carvings of the Buddha's footprints, and stone carvings of the footprints of Master Tang's journey to obtain Buddhist scriptures. It has witnessed the arduous journey and outstanding contributions of Master Xuanzang's westward trip to seek Buddhist teachings. As one of the landmark buildings in Xi'an, the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda attracts a large number of tourists and pilgrims to visit every year.
7.2 Shaanxi History Museum 陕西历史博物馆
It is located at the northeast corner of Tang Paradise. As the first large-scale modern national museum in China, this museum is praised as "the Pearl of the Ancient Capital and the Treasury of China", as it unveils the rich history and culture of Shaanxi. The main categories of collections in the museum include Shang and Zhou bronze wares, pottery figurines of various dynasties, gold and silver wares of the Han and Tang Dynasties, and murals from Tang tombs, etc. The time span of these collections is over one million years, covering all kinds of utensils from the simple stone tools used by ancient humans to those in social life before 1840. As one of the first batch of comprehensive museums in China, it is highly suitable for tourists who are interested in history and culture to visit.
7.3 Datang Ever-bright City 大唐不夜城
This Ever-bright city is located at the foot of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda in the Yanta District of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. It is the only large-scale pedestrian street with a group of Tang Dynasty-style buildings in China, which is set against the backdrop of the prosperous Tang Dynasty culture. It is also a landmark scenic area in Xi'an.
The Grand Tang Dynasty Ever-bright City not only showcases the glorious historical features and splendid culture of the Tang Dynasty but also recreates the prosperous scenes of the Tang Dynasty through modern technology. There are main squares and buildings such as Zhenguan Square, Kaiyuan Square, and the South Square of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda built within the block, so they are absolutely worth visiting for tourists.
