The weather in my city was pretty good in March and even now in April this year. So it’s perfect for getting out and seeing the parks and gardens in Guangzhou. April is getting a bit warm to be out too much, but it’s still bearable.
One of the parks that my roommate, Kendra, and I visited on one of our adventures was Yuntai Gardens. (云台花园, yuntai hua yuan). Kendra and I took a bus to get there (the bus stop has the same name, but there is also a metro station, also with the same name on line 11. A while back, we also went to that station to walk through several parks on the 运道 (yun dao) which is also lovely. I’ll have to write a post about that sometime in the future.
The Yuntai gardens were delightful at this time of year with lots of beautiful flowers. Unfortunately, that also meant that there were quite a few people even on a Thursday afternoon—not a holiday. But it wasn’t too bad. The tickets were cheap—only 10 kuai (about $1.5 or less). We bought our tickets once we arrived—we had to scan a code and buy them through the mini-program, although you could probably buy them at the counter if you wanted.
First, Kendra and I headed over to the right side where they had a greenhouse with lots of cacti and succulents. Since Guangzhou is so wet, I wonder how they can keep the cacti alive and happy, but since it’s also quite hot, I suppose they manage somehow. Some of the cacti were so tall they reached nearly to the roof of the greenhouse. Some of them climbed up the sides, and there were all kinds of small ones including ones that looked very soft (I did not touch them) and little balls of cacti. My favorites were the rose-like succulents.
The park has lots of statues, and there was one section with a unique indigenous flavor. I took a picture, but I couldn’t decide if the statues were interesting or slightly disrespectful or stereotypical. I couldn’t decide quite how I felt about it. Since there was no description of them, they seemed less meaningful and more just for show or pictures. I don’t like that as much. If they want to include cultural elements, they should let the visitors know about the culture so that people can deepen their understanding rather than just capturing a couple of pictures for their Instagram or blog, haha.
The rose garden was also beautiful. I loved all the different colors of roses. I could have taken lots of pictures here, but I also wanted to enjoy the beauty of the area, so I didn’t take so many. Kendra and I asked a random passer-by to help us take a photo, but it wasn’t the greatest photo a stranger has ever taken for us. It wasn’t centered and the person didn’t really seem to care about getting a good one. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. We also took some photos with a few random older ladies who wanted to.
A large pond occupied the center of the park, and there were a bunch of columns on one side in a kind of Roman architectural design. When we first walked up, a couple of men were in the pond, and since they were standing close to each other, at first glance, it really looked like they were having a baptismal ceremony. That would have been highly unusual, and as I looked closer, I realized that they were normal workers trying to fix the fountain.
Lots and lots of people were standing around the columns and large stone bowls filled with flowers. One girl was taking photos with a violin that was covered in flowers. I thought that was cool.
Kendra and I wandered away from the lake and the flowers when we saw another path heading up the mountain. We had time and energy, so we decided to check it out. We were also a bit tired of people, and this path seemed a bit deserted. We soon found out why. The path was basically just a bunch of stairs. We climbed up the stairs until we got to a little pagoda, but there wasn’t much of a view. I don’t have a picture, so it wasn’t even picture-worthy. But even though we don’t have proof, I know we did it, whether or not you believe me is your choice!
If you need some exercise or you like to explore, the path was fun, but if not, you can stay in the main section of the park. The best part of that hike was the beginning with a little bridge over a small ravine. The tropical plants gave it a Jurassic Park feeling. But this particular bridge was a hot spot for wedding photos, so we didn’t have much time to linger. We kept having to dodge people in their wedding photo sessions. Also, since it’s a tropical place, stopping means being attacked by mosquitos. I’m not a big fan of mosquitos, so we kept moving further up and further in.
On the way down, we walked through the friendship city section of the park. Various cities who are “friends” with Guangzhou had given statues as gifts. There was a large sheep and a gorilla and lots of other random statues.
Back in the main section of the park, there was a large waterfall with a fountain at the top and lots of flowers all along both sides. I loved all the flowers, but our favorite part was a very unusual tree off to one side. Kendra wants to draw the tree, so I took a picture of her and the tree.
Yuntai Gardens are beautiful, especially with all of the flowers, but I would definitely recommend going on a weekday because the weekends are probably quite crowded. Even though there were quite a few people on the weekday, there were still lots of sections of the park that were not crowded at all.