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Construction begins on Lan Yuan, Dunedin Chinese Garden

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In 1998, for the 150th commemorations of Otago Province, the Dunedin Chinese community were invited by the Dunedin City Council to present China Week. This was a celebration of Chinese in Dunedin and included family reunions, historical displays, food festivals a business expo and art exhibitions.

During planning for China Week, the concept of a Chinese Garden, a gift to the Dunedin Community, was formed and the Dunedin Chinese Gardens Trust was created. Peter Chin was Chair, James Ng was Deputy Chair and the Trust included members of the Chinese community. The Trust raised $800,000 in cash and in-kind contributions towards the cost of the Garden, with the Dunedin City Council and the Community Trust of Otago also making financial contributions. The Dunedin City Council donated a piece of land for the construction, which was blessed by Kai Tahu kaumatua, and NZ-Chinese architect Bruce Young provided conceptual plans.

Detailed garden plans were drawn up by architects Cao YongKang from Shanghai's Joaotong University and with input from Chinese ancient architecture specialist Professor Tan Yueng of the Shanghai Museum.

In 2006, the New Zealand Government's Ministry for Economic Development announced a donation of $3.75 million to the project, and a memorandum of understanding was signed with the Shanghai Construction and Decoration Company. The Shanghai Museum also contributed expertise for the construction free of charge.

Amalgamated Builders of Dunedin were appointed to liaise with the design team and the Shanghai contractor. The site, on reclaimed land, was stabilised with over 6 metres of fill. The garden's structures were prefabricated in Suzhou, near Shanghai and were shipped in 102 containers. These arrived in July 2007 and took 6 weeks to construct. Not a single nail was used to build Lan Yuan. The mortice and tenon joints that hold the 240 cubic metres of Chinese Fir together give the structure great stability. Each of the 380,000 roof tiles are handmade.