Chinanews, Shanghai, March 30 - By the end of 2007, a Suzhou-style Chinese garden will be built in Dunedin, New Zealand, and it will be opened to the general public in early 2008. All the structures and rockscapes in the garden will be "made-in-China".

 

The news was released by Peter Chin, the Mayor of Dunedin, who arrived in Shanghai on March 28.

 

The garden was designed in Shanghai, and its components were made there, too. 50 workers will go to Dunedin with the components to put them together.

 

"The garden will be here in memory of our forefathers, who came to Dunedin and Otago in the first gold rush. Besides, the garden will always remind us of the connection between New Zealand and China," said Chin, who is a descendant of the first Chinese immigrants in New Zealand.

 

"Chinese were looked down upon when the first batch of them arrived in New Zealand, but now we have won the respect of New Zealanders," added Chin.

 

The design of the garden to be built in Dunedin is inspired by the architectural concept embodied in the famous Wangshi Garden in Suzhou, and it will cover some 1.5 acres.

 

Shanghai Municipal Museum offered great help to the designing and building of the garden.

 

"The garden will be the most important symbol of the friendship between Dunedin and Shanghai," said Chin.