Iconic tourist hotspot given an injection of youth

Next to the garden and the temple is the sprawling shopping area where buildings sport traditional-style facades.

Besides pop-up stands, another new addition to the garden is Wang Shiping, a balloon artist who will showcase his craft by the iconic Jiu Qu Bridge, which zigzags across a lotus pool, every day between noon and 9 pm throughout July.

Born in Shanxi province, Wang has been practicing balloon sculpting with his brother in Shanghai since 2002. The "Balloon Brothers", as they call themselves, were among the first certified street artists in the city. The duo has even performed in other countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia.

Another new performer the garden has engaged is Wendy Lee, a cellist who performs to the sounds of house music in the central square during weekend evenings from 7 to 8 pm.

"I think this is a way of mixing the classical with the modern," she says. "We have done this in other places, but this is the first time I am performing in Yu Garden. I am quite excited."

Apart from the usual Chinese food offerings-Yu Garden is home to more than a dozen renowned local restaurants such as noodle shop Song He Lou and steamed-bun shop Nanxiang Mantou-the garden's management has invited Tsingtao Beer to set up a pop-up booth in the central plaza area, which also hosts a variety of Western items such as pizza and steaks that are more popular with young visitors.

A Bite of Jiangnan, a new canteen-style restaurant in the garden, also offers a range of snacks from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces.

Formerly known as the go-to shopping destination for traditional Chinese souvenirs, Yu Garden has also given its retail scene a facelift with the addition of more guochao-literally, "national hipness"-stores selling products from trendy homegrown brands.