Cambridge garden marks city's strong links to poet Xu Zhimo

The first formal Chinese garden in the English city of Cambridge has been unveiled in celebration of the growing cultural ties between China and the University of Cambridge.

The China-UK Friendship Garden, which is also known as Xu Zhimo Garden, memorializes the late Chinese poet Xu Zhimo, who was an associate member of King's College for 18 months in 1921-22.

The garden was officially open during the fourth-annual Cambridge Xu Zhimo Poetry and Art Festival.

Xu wrote the famous poem Second Farewell to Cambridge in 1928, after his third visit to the city. Filled with his longing for Cambridge as well as thoughts about his first love affair, the poem has been learned by millions of schoolchildren in China.

The poem's first and last lines have been carved into a granite stone that has become one of Cambridge's most popular tourist attractions. This year also marks the 10th anniversary of a memorial stone placed in his honor next to the bridge he had fond feelings about, at the back of King's College.

The idea to create the memorial garden was first developed by Steven Coghill, the senior horticulturist at King's College. The garden took three years to plan and build.

Alan Macfarlane, chairman of the Cambridge Rivers Project and a professor at the University of Cambridge, said: "Because Xu is an alumnus of King's College, we want to express our admiration for him and to increase understanding of the links between China and Cambridge.

The garden celebrates the shared culture of East and West. It is a fusion between philosophies and cultures, which contains special calligraphy by famous Chinese people, including Mo Yan (Chinese author and 2012 Nobel Prize winner for literature) illustrating the poem."

The garden features many plants that grow naturally in Xu's home province of Zhejiang in East China. It also contains plants sourced from neighboring provinces.

The celebration of Xu in Cambridge has grown to become increasingly important.

"Ten years ago, when the memorial stone arrived, nothing was known of Xu Zhimo in the West," Macfarlane said. "Now, many people, both in Cambridge and the UK, and increasingly from Europe, America, and elsewhere are learning about Xu Zhimo and Chinese culture. This is part of a cultural bridge of music, painting, poetry, calligraphy which is being built through this garden and through many other events."

This year's festival, which took place on Friday and Saturday, brought well-known poets and artists to King's College, as well as some of Xu's relatives.

The festival included a concert staged by the King's Men, the Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, during which several songs were performed, including two Chinese songs - Second Farewell to Cambridge, and Jasmine Flower.

The queen sent a congratulatory letter to mark the opening of the garden, in which she expressed an interest to learn more about the garden, and the poet Xu Zhimo.