Yu Yuan Garden is located in the old section of Shanghai which has well preserved buildings of classical Chinese architecture. The gardens are in the heart of this section and are an excellent example of the old Chinese gardens featuring water, large rock formations, sculpture, architecture, and art. They were built during the reign of Ming Emperor Jiajing (1559) as the private garden of Pan Yunduan, an administration commissioner of Sichuan Province and are about 5 acres in size.