The sky garden he built with his own hands is about to disappear from the heart of a bustling city

In Shaoyao's memory, Chengdu is fiery and laid-back. Fiery because of the scorching summer heat and the spicy hotpot, laid-back because of the mahjong tables and teahouses found everywhere.

Chengdu people are born with the skill of stealing a moment of leisure from a busy day - even if they stay up late working overtime, they still have to sneak out for a cup of tea first. No wonder so many people sum up Chengdu in one phrase: comfortable beyond words.

On Chengdu's busiest Tianfu 5th Street, a place where every inch of land is worth its weight in gold, there is actually a stunning sky garden that takes the Chengdu spirit of leisure to the extreme...

1965

 Kicker

Zella Day 

00:00/03:37

{Shaoyao Guniang Vol.842 }

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Sky Garden

Facing one congested intersection after another every day, one cup of coffee after another gulped down in a hurry... I thought this was all there was to city life.

Unexpectedly, on Chengdu's fastest-paced Tianfu 5th Street, a surprise is hidden away -There is actually a garden here!

The garden sits on a rooftop in the south of the city,

about a 10-minute drive from "Tianfu 5th Street."

On a small rooftop in the bustling downtown,

there is a garden full of floral fragrance, bathed in sunlight.

Born amid the hustle and bustle, it finds a piece of tranquility all its own.

I can't help thinking: isn't this what it means to turn life into poetry?

The garden is called

"Zhiwu Laboratory"，

"Zhi" stands for plants,

"Wu" is taken from "seeking it waking and sleeping" in the Classic of Poetry,

meaning to awaken.

The meaning behind the name is:a place where plants wake up.

This year is the 3rd spring that Zhiwu Laboratory has spent,

and more and more people are coming here.

When asked about the original intention, the owner said:

I just wanted to give it a try,

to see whether I could create a "garden beyond the world" in the city.

As soon as you step into the garden,

the indoor space is like a big fairy-tale greenhouse,

with hand-drawn Miyazaki anime on the walls.

It's said that the temperature here is constant year-round,

so it doesn't feel cold in winter, nor hot in summer.

All kinds of plants turn the room into a wondrous world

The day I went, the weather was sweltering,

and as soon as I entered the garden hall, I felt a wave of coolness!

Many people were in the garden drinking tea and chatting,

and I heard they all live nearby.

Every year when the roses bloom, finding a moment to come over,

admiring the flowers and taking photos, stealing a little leisure from a busy day,

has become a standard part of spring!

The sunlight outside was just right,

and I couldn't wait to go out to the outdoor garden.

As soon as I reached the entrance, a fresh fragrance rushed to meet me...

A small path stretches over from the distance, paved with wood and stones,

with a few glistening dewdrops still rolling in the grass on both sides.

Beside the path are lovely chairs and small vases,

and flowers of every color sparkle in the afternoon light,

with butterflies flitting back and forth...

The Zhiwu Rose Garden is not like an ordinary private garden, kept neat and exquisitely pruned; instead it has a beauty full of freedom and quiet seclusion.

It's said that the flowers here all grow wild - apart from a few rare and exotic plants that need special "care," they are basically left to do their own thing, growing however they please.

The garden looks a little messy, yet it has a beauty all its own that is casual and just right.

Speaking of the roses grown in the garden, the owner can talk about each one as if counting his treasures.

Don't be fooled by how small Zhiwu Laboratory is - just over 400 sq m - it actually grows more than 200 kinds of roses from all over the world, each one carefully selected by the owner and introduced from different places.

This rose garden is the result of 12 years of accumulation by the owner.

To keep different varieties of roses alive here, the garden uses substrate cultivation; both the lawn and the roses use substrate imported from Germany.

Over 3 years, here,

he introduced several hundred kinds of plants one by one,

caring for and maintaining them every day.

Sometimes when a rainstorm suddenly hits, worried that the flowers will be damaged,

he will stay in the garden the whole time, watching closely.

Because of tending the garden,

his skin has darkened and his hands have grown rough.

In search of rare plants,

he has been to the legendary Cliff Village,

and climbed mountains at an altitude of more than 3000 m...

Rushing about everywhere, he has also picked up some health problems.

But when he talks about the plants he grows,

the owner's face still shows full pride and excitement.

Taking the things you love to the extreme,

that's probably what this is like!

Miyazaki commemorative rose - Hearing the Sound of the Waves.

The owner brought it back from Japan, and it is the only one of its kind in the whole country

Piel de Rosa

A yellow rose cultivated by the owner himself

Besides all kinds of roses,

nearly 800 other kinds of flowers and plants are also grown here.

Rare alpine plants

Egret grass introduced from Japan

Small strawberries grown by himself

When I came, the small strawberries had just ripened; I picked one and tasted it - sweet and tart with a fresh fragrance, leaving you wanting more...

No wonder it has attracted so many people to come and snap photos - it turns out this 400 sq m place hides so many treasures!

Of course, the flowers hereare not only "good-looking" but also "good to eat."

Come to Zhiwu Laboratory and order a fruit salad or a rose pizza, and you can taste the rose jam made personally by the owner.

Seasonal flower teas and desserts,

with ingredients picked directly from the garden, brewed and made fresh on the spot.

The recipe for the rose jam is the owner's exclusive blend,

occasionally given to friends, but never sold for takeout.

I imagined one of his days:

Every morning come to the garden to look at the flowers and water them,

at noon simmer a bowl of rose jam and brew a cup of flower tea,

then sit in a chair for the whole afternoon...

Outside the garden is the noise of traffic coming and going;

inside the garden, you can watch flowers bloom and fall, clouds roll and unfold...

The rose garden not only attracts many visitors; here the owner has also met some like-minded friends.

Now the garden holds occasional activities such as photography, handicrafts, gardening and aesthetics sharing.

When I came, I happened to run into a nearby photography studio taking photos; I heard they were introduced by friends in the field to come here for a shoot.

What a pity,

I heard the garden is going to be demolished in 2019.

When I asked the owner about his plans afterward, he smiled and said:

To recreate the natural world I love on this small rooftop,

and let many people here feel

the happiness that cannot be felt while shuttling among the city's high-rise buildings,

and then they pass this happiness on, bringing it to more people.

That is enough for me!

As I left, I thought: we often say we long for poetry and distant places, yet we are always tripped up by the "mere getting by" of reality.

The sky garden within this city's walls is like a door; when we step through it, we discover that the life we long for was never far away.

I like the gardens of Chengdu, and I like the flower seas of Dali even more.

Recently, Shaoyao is recruiting friends to go on a study tour in Yunnan together,

only the last few spots are left, so seize the chance,

scan the QR code on the poster to sign up,