A 70-year-old man built a sky garden next to the imperial city, the coolest in Beijing!

Near Beijing East Second Ring Road,

Next to it is the Ming City Wall Ruins Park.

The Forbidden City is only a 15-minute drive away.

There are tall buildings everywhere, and every inch of land here is worth a lot of money.

Unexpectedly, among the buildings,

When you look up, you'll see lush greenery.

It turned out to be a sky garden on the roof!

A garden is built on the roof, and it is also next to the imperial city...

Who is the owner of this garden?

The owner of the garden is Gao Jianfeng, who is just in his early 70s. He majored in agriculture and is not only interested in flowers and plants, but also good at garden design. No wonder he could build a 5-story sky garden!

Teacher Gao likes a natural lifestyle, so his design works always include large tracts of flowers and plants. With these models, he travels far and wide to display them in universities and forums, hoping that more people can accept this lifestyle concept.

As soon as Teacher Gao retired, I finally had time to fulfill my dream. Although my house didn’t have a yard, it just so happened that I had a roof! As soon as he thought of it, Mr. Gao started drawing the blueprint:

The roof of Teacher Gao’s house is an irregular slope. Although the total area is large, it is twisted and turns. Most people would be discouraged when they see it. However, it is not difficult for the master. With just a few strokes, Teacher Gao completed the rendering of a 5-story sky garden!

First floor: small balcony

The first floor of the sky garden is the balcony of the original attic. The gardenia, fortune tree, lucky tree, and small-leaf red sandalwood planted by Teacher Gao are all here. Looking at Beijing, it is no longer steel and concrete, but a piece of green...

There is a ladder on the small balcony on the first floor. Climb up the ladder to the second floor. The ladder is surrounded by vines, with only a hole left for easy going up and down. From this angle, it really looks like a different world!

Second floor: vineyard

Teacher Gao’s vineyard can be said to have fully utilized the advantages of the sloping roof. It is located in the southeast corner of the entire building, where the light is the best and most suitable for the growth of grapes.

The location is good and the grapes are also growing well. This grape tree is an "old tree" that the Gao family has raised for decades. Just look at this old photo and you will know!

Teacher Gao said that even her daughter grew up eating grapes from this tree. This grape vine is full of memories!

Third floor: Rose Garden

The area of ​​the third floor is neither too big nor too small, a bit awkward, and relatively long and narrow, so Teacher Gao planted it with roses, most of which are old red roses that bloom frequently and have few insect pests and diseases.

In addition to roses, there are also some flower and fruit trees, including jasmine, hibiscus, sedum, Panax notoginseng, peach trees, and fortuneia trees. These flowers can be eaten, made into tea, or used as medicine. Teacher Gao is indeed attentive.

Fourth floor: Entrance to Taoyuan

The fourth floor is a long and narrow "L"-shaped corridor with several larger flowers planted, including large-leafed quinoa, yellow comb, spring orchid, and mirabilis jalapa. There is also a small cherry tree planted to the north. Besides flowers and plants, it is the gateway to the heart of the garden!

Standing on the fourth floor, you can see the highlight of the garden. Teacher Gao specially built a wooden staircase and an archway, and named it "Taoyuan".

Although there are no ten miles of peach blossoms in Taoyuan, it is truly a paradise in the bustling city!

Fifth floor: "Utopia" in the sky

After reaching the fourth floor, I couldn’t wait to see Mr. Gao’s fifth floor. I heard that this is the core of the entire garden~

Climbing to the top floor, there is a rooftop garden, where you can drink tea, appreciate flowers and plants, and have a panoramic view of the most central scenery of Beijing...

This floor is the largest, with not only flowers and grass, but also fruit trees and vines. There are two tables and chairs. Taking a rest here is like being a living god.

How many people envy Mr. Gao for his life, as he can be so leisurely and contented living near the imperial city. His sky garden was even featured on Beijing Satellite TV, where he was praised by the host!

Seeing this, don’t think that Teacher Gao is idle. Since building this sky garden, he has been very busy. In addition to growing flowers, he also grows a lot of vegetables. It would not be an exaggeration to call it a vegetable garden rather than a flower garden!

In addition to vegetables, there are also many fruit trees, including grapes, peach trees, cherry trees, apple trees, and orange trees, all of which need to be carefully cared for in order to bear fruit every year.

With this calculation, to take care of hundreds of pots of flowers, plants and trees, Teacher Gao would need to be very capable. After careful questioning, Mr. Gao smiled and said that he had installed a smart watering system, which can be controlled by mobile phone. Huahua was really enlightened.

As long as you set the watering time on your mobile phone, you can control it remotely and water the plants on time. You can’t tell that Mr. Gao, who is over 70 years old, is still a technology expert!

In addition to advanced technology, Mr. Gao also made a skateboard for the larger flowers, so that they can be pushed around effortlessly and chase the sun every day.

Teacher Gao's meticulousness is not limited to growing flowers and plants, he is also extremely careful about the safety of the roof garden. The stress points in each area must be fixed to the load-bearing wall to ensure that there is no room for error.

Of course, one needs to work hard to live a dream life. Every morning when the sunlight shines through the flowers and leaves, it is the most gratifying moment for Teacher Gao!

Among the flowers and grass, you can vaguely see the ancient city tower in the distance...

When they are free and tired, the family sits under the shade of trees, drinks tea, eats fruits, and chats about family matters. The days pass among the fragrance of flowers and the chirping of birds.

Even if you live in a busy city, you can still attract a few wild ducks to settle down and build nests and lay eggs during migration.

Fluttering butterflies are also frequent visitors to the garden, constantly flying in to collect nectar. The so-called "hiding in seclusion from the world" probably refers to this kind of state of mind!

In the end, although the rooftop garden is magnificent, there are still hidden dangers due to the dense buildings surrounding it. It is unknown how long Teacher Gao’s garden can last. I really hope that such beautiful scenery can be appreciated not only in pictures~