After 10 years of construction and improvement, Liu Guangjia no longer wants to enjoy his private garden alone. The 70-year-old resident plans to open the garden, his labor of love, and share it with the public.

As a Chinese garden design lover, Liu spent most of his spare time after retirement to create the garden at his villa on Humin Road in Minhang District of Shanghai. He is looking forward to inspirational suggestions from visitors.

The 3,200-square-meter garden includes over 1,200 miniature or bonsai plants, including 100 species over 100 years old. All the plants are from his own collection.

"The garden was a dream of my life," said Liu, a former government official.

The grandest attraction of the garden is a labyrinth called "Ba Guazhen," which is constructed along China's Eight Diagram chart.

In the middle of the labyrinth is a stone museum. Mountain stones collected by Liu from all over the country are displayed.

According to Liu, painstaking efforts in the past 40 years have all been focused on planning and collecting for his garden. Construction began in 1992 and lasted 10 years.

(Shanghai Daily May 18, 2006)