Caiming Garden Park

Caiming Garden Park is situated in the southwest of Caidu Town, Shangcai County. It is bounded by Chongyang Avenue to the south, Caidu Avenue to the north, Qinxiang Road to the west and Caiming Road to the east. The park stretches about 1,030 metres from north to south and 814 metres from east to west, covering a total area of approximately 72.4 hectares. The whole project was scheduled to be fully completed and open to the public in December 2015, with a total investment of 76.4 million yuan.

Positioned as an open comprehensive park, Caiming Garden highlights the profound historical heritage of Shangcai County in culture, prioritizes ecological natural environments, and integrates cultural relics protection with recreational facilities for local residents. In 2006, the People’s Government of Shangcai County commissioned the Henan Urban Planning and Design Institute to draw up a detailed construction plan for the park.

Core scenic spots include the South Heavenly Gate, Caiming Garden Square, an artificial lake, rockeries, a children’s amusement centre, swimming pools, angling ponds and a zoo.

Among these attractions, the South Heavenly Gate is known as "the No.1 Archway in Asia". Its construction spanned 11 years from December 1995 to September 2006, with a total investment of 28 million yuan jointly funded by the county government and Master Shi Mingcheng. The archway project cost 27.5 million yuan in total, of which Master Mingcheng contributed 20 million yuan.

It is a 11-bay memorial archway with six pillars and five gateways, standing 35 metres high, 75 metres wide, with a north-south depth of 15 metres. The pillars, beams and horizontal boards are decorated with coloured paintings. The exterior is constructed with stone carvings and glazed tiles plus painted plinths, while the interior adopts reinforced concrete structures. It is a masterpiece combining traditional and modern architectural styles.

On the south side above the main gate are three huge Chinese characters "Caiming Garden", handwritten by Zhao Puchu, former Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Chairman of the Buddhist Association of China. On the north side above the gate are four characters "Repent and salvation is near", inscribed by Elder Shi Mingcheng, a world-renowned eminent monk from Guanyin Temple on Daxiang Mountain in Taiwan. The master’s secular name was Chen Guoxun, and his ancestral home was Zengchen Village, Donghong Township, Shangcai County.

The stone surfaces of the archway are carved with images of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Eight Vajras and flying apsaras. The combined patterns of flowers, fish and umbrellas embody people’s good wishes for national peace, prosperity and favourable weather for crops