The striking new Chinese streamside garden and music pavilion in Greater Manchester

The Qing Yin Pavilion (also known as the Chinese Music Pavilion) is opening soon at RHS Garden Bridgewater on Monday 21 August 2023.

A celebration event will be held to mark the opening, featuring a traditional Chinese Dragon Dance, with a 25-person dragon dancing from the RHS Bridgewater welcome building to the pavilion.

A unique collaboration between the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the China Flower Association and the Yangzhou Classical Garden Construction Company, The Qing Yin Pavilion is a classically designed and authentically built Chinese structure and a striking focal point in the Chinese Streamside Garden at RHS Bridgewater.

The Chinese Streamside Garden is a truly remarkable horticultural and landscape initiative. A novel fusion of the best of British and Chinese gardening traditions, the garden has been made possible thanks to a successful partnership between the local Chinese community, horticultural experts in China and RHS team members. The Chinese Streamside Garden Founding Committee, comprised of prominent members of the Chinese community in Manchester and the North West, was established in 2018 by philanthropist Dr Lee Kai Hung, to help turn the vision for the garden into a reality. Both the Qing Yin Pavilion and the wider Chinese Streamside Garden have received a generous donation from the Lee Kai Hung Foundation to make their creation possible.

The pavilion was constructed using traditional Chinese craft techniques, materials and skills, by a group of seven specialist artisans from the Yangzhou Classical Garden Construction Company. The structural frame is made predominantly from Chinese Fir sourced from FSC certified forests together with stone and traditional kiln fired brick and tiles from China. Carving on the pavilion reads ‘Why must exquisite music come from stringed and bamboo instruments? Clear sounds echoing between mountains and rivers are more moving.”

The Qing Yin Pavilion is the first building to be constructed for The Scholar’s Garden, which will be the centrepiece of the Chinese Streamside Garden and is due for completion in 2026. The Scholar’s Garden is inspired by classical Chinese garden design, and will consist of four interlinked pavilions which reference the traditional arts that historically were considered essential for self-cultivation – music; chess; calligraphy and painting. Further horticultural developments are also planned to create 11 distinct garden spaces over a seven-acre area, including a bambusarium, meandering meadow and birch wood.

Founding Committee member Mr Gerry Yeung said, “We thank Dr Lee for his vision and generosity which enables this international, cross-cultural, and collaborative project between UK and China, between RHS and China Flower Association, between the City of Salford and Yangzhou.

“When fully complete, not only will the Chinese Streamside Garden celebrate the enormous contribution that China has gifted to the world horticulturally; but the Music Pavilion, together with three more garden buildings, forming the Scholar’s Garden, will showcase genuine classical Chinese garden architecture in UK.

“It is a most meaningful project, and we hope it will be enjoyed by people from all walks of life in Greater Manchester, the North West and beyond, for generations to come.”