Yangshuo Secret Garden

Yangshuo Secret Garden is a hotel project under development. We have leased a number of beautiful but neglected Ming Dynasty buildings in Jiuxian Village, near Yangshuo and are currently restoring them to their former glory.

In business terms our aim is to create a boutique hotel outside Yangshuo since the trend is very much towards stays away from the town centre for the top-end of the expat/foreigner market. In a broader sense we also aim to create somewhere special.

Our project manager, who prefers to be known simply as Fengzi, is a trained architect and enjoys all aspects of art and design. He manages not only the practical building issues but is also carefully co-ordinating the features that will create an ambience which, taken with the delightful surroundings, we aim to promote as Inspirational accommodation for creative people.

The site contains many spaces for guests to enjoy including several gardens (of course), a quiet studio for the production of artistic works and a gallery where we encourage these works to be put on display.

The lease for the first building was signed on 6 July, 2010. To date we have signed a number of other leases including four more buildings and various bits of land. The land includes half a rice paddy where we will begin a Constructed Wetland early in 2011.

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Despite a foul winter with far more rain than is typical progress has been steady. We are at the stage where most of the construction is complete and so the focus is on decoration.

In the Courtyard House we have created modern bathrooms for each of the six rooms. These now have plumbing in place and have been tiled.The tiler is the same guy that did our house back in 2005. We had to search him out but the effort has paid off. He is a real master and has made uneven walls look straighter than they really are.

We have also installed a steel staircase in the lobby for access to the upper floor. For looks we would have preferred an old wooden stair in keeping with the rest of the house but practicality ruled the day and, after some careful consideration, we opted for this stronger, safer solution.

It's getting exciting now. We are past the major construction issues and getting on with the fittings and decorarations. Some rooms are now pretty much ready, with only furniture required and much of that has been selected already. The work has kept us busy so the website doesn't reflect all the changes yet - but we have added some very recent pictures to the gallery.

Speaking of galleries, ours is looking spectacular. We finally resolved the issue of stair treads for this U-shaped pre-fab and are only waiting for the balustrade to be fitted before this all becomes usuable. Fengzi is already planning his first exhibition.

We have managed to fit in several trips to the flower and plant market in Guilin and have a wide range of palnts growing in the various gardens and in our huge pots. The added colour has brought the site to life, especially the courtyard where bougainvillea and an un-named vine are creeping up the columns at a rate of knots.

Our constructed wetland is beginning to look good, with several varieties of Canna Lilies doing their stuff under the surface and with lotus leaves spreading across the pond area. We had some fish for a while (after a particularly heavy downpour flooded the rice-paddy area) but those haven't been seen for a while. Kingfishers probably took advantage of the clear, shallow waters ...

We are open. The first 4 rooms were ready for 1 September, with a few finishing touches to the other 2 before they were up to our high standards. The photos below tell more than a few words.

Rather than re-write this whole hub it seems a better idea to start again. The sequel, for the completed stage 1, will be called 'Yangshuo Secret Garden Boutique Hotel'.

Our booking system is live. Just select your dates, check availability and then let us know your details.

You can also contact us by email.

reservations@yangshuosecretgarden.com