Liuhou Park (liǔ hóu gōng yuán 柳侯公园) is located at the center of Liuzhou City (liǔ zhōu shì 柳州市), Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (guǎng xī zhuàng zú zì zhì qū 广西壮族自治区). It is constructed in 1906 to commemorate the litterateur Liu Zongyuan (liǔ zōng yuán 柳宗元) in the Tang Dynasty (táng cháo 唐朝), who was once the government official in Liuzhou. The park covers an area of 15.52 hectares, half of which is taken by an artificial lake. In the garden there is the Liuhou Memorial Temple (liǔ hóu cí 柳侯祠), Cenotaph of Liu Zongyuan (liǔ zōng yuán yī guān mù 柳宗元衣冠墓), Luochi Pool and Ganxiang Pavilion (gān xiāng tíng 柑香亭).

Enter the park and walk along the road, you can see a green pool, which is clean and clear. A tablet standing on the bank of it, on which there written two Chinese characters “罗池"(luó chí). When the moon raises at night, its shadow reflects on the surface of the pool, which is gorgeous and rank in the Eight Views of Luochi Pool (luó chí bā jǐng 罗池八景).

Walking along the path beside Luochi Pool, you can see the Liuhou Memorial Temple. It was originally called Luochi Temple (luó chí miào 罗池庙), located in the west of the Liuhou Park. Liu Zongyuan, courtesy name Zihou (zǐ hòu 子厚), was a Chinese writer who lived in Chang’an during the Tang Dynasty. In 805 he fell from favour because of his association with a failed reformist movement. He was exiled first to Yongzhou (永州), Hunan Province (hú nán shěng 湖南省), and then to Liuzhou, where he eventually became the city Governor (cì shǐ 刺史). He contributed a lot to Liuzhou and helped them to develop. Three years after his death, people built the Luochi Temple to commemorate him. In the late Northern Song Dynasty (běi sòng 北宋), the Emperor Huizong bestowed Liu Zongyuan the official position Wenhui Marquis (wén huì hóu 文惠侯). Therefore, the memorial temple was called Liuhou Temple. In the temple there is the bronze statue of Liu Zongyuan and his followers. There also exhibits the cultural relics, paintings and pictures of Liu Zongyuan, and the elaborate introduction of Liu’s life and historic feats.

Behind the memorial temple, there is the Cenotaph of Liu Zongyuan. It is surrounded by green pine and cypress, which makes it solemn and tranquil. After the death of Liu Zongyuan, his remains was delivered to Chang’an (chāng ān 长安). People in Liuzhou then built this cenotaph to memory Liu Zongyuan.

A hexangular pavilion opposite to the Liuhou Memorial Temple is Ganxiang Pavilion. Liu Zongyuan was once planted orange trees here and wrote a famous Planting Orange Poem (zhòng gān shī 种柑诗). The pavilion is covered with green tiles. The red pillars and delicate paintings make the pavilion more unique.

Liuhou Memorial Temple
Address: No. 62, Wenhui Road (wén huì lù 文惠路), Liuzhou City
Admission fee: free for entering the park
                       CNY 30 for the Liuhou Memorial Temple
Opening hours: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Transportation: you can take bus No. 2, 6, 39, 26, 59, 79, 31, 76 and get off at Liuhou Park