Dongguan Keyuan was founded in the Qing Dynasty Daoguang thirty years (AD 1850), Shunde Qinghui Garden, Panyu Yu Yin Shan House, Foshan Liang Garden together called the Qing Dynasty Guangdong four famous gardens.Keyuan is famous for its "small and exquisite design", which combines residence, courtyard and study in an artistic way. In about 2200 square meters of land, pavilions, mountains and rivers, Bridges, halls and courtyards are all available.The layout of the garden is scattered, twists and turns, there is a landscape in the empty place, and the sparse place is not empty, which is the treasure of Lingnan garden.

Zhang Jingxiu, the founder of Keyuan, is from Boxia, Dongguan City.He once served as an investigation envoy of Jiangxi Province (a kind of official in the Qing Dynasty) and as a temporary administrative envoy (a kind of official in the Qing Dynasty). At the same time, he was very accomplished in the field of literature.He invited literati to come to keyuan, Ju Chao, Ju Lian, the originator of Lingnan painting school, had lived in the Keyuan for ten years, and created a new technique of painting, which created a precedent for Lingnan painting school.Keyuan has nurtured a group of outstanding artists and cultural masters, which has had an important impact on the culture of Dongguan and even Lingnan culture, and is a valuable cultural resource of Dongguan.

Keyuan is unique in Lingnan gardens with it’s exquisite garden architecture and profound cultural heritage. In 2001, The State Council listed Dongguan Keyuan as a key cultural relic protection unit.

Keyuan Museum is a thematic museum based on Keyuan Garden architecture, collecting, displaying and studying classical garden architecture and Lingnan painting School cultural relics, and disseminating Lingnan architectural culture and Lingnan painting School art.  It covers an area of 17,900 square meters and has resident exhibition "Lingnan Traditional Garden and Residence", "Ju Chao, Ju Lian and Keyuan", "Mobozhi and Lingnan Architectural Art" and the mobile exhibition which are updated from time to time. Integrating the functions of collection protection, exhibition, academic research, art exchange, cultural leisure and so on, Keyuan museum is a public welfare cultural facility with not only Dongguan cultural characteristics but also a modern flavor .