Shanghai Botanical Garden's Back!
By admin on 2015-01-19

The Shanghai Botanical Garden reopens on February 1 after extensive renovation. It features glorious plants from around the world, blossoms in all seasons, orchids, bonsai and rare herbs. Qian Yanwen reports. The Shanghai Botanical Garden is one of the largest municipal botanical gardens in China and considered by many to be a premier example of the gardener's art in service of the public.

It is closed for renovation and will reopen with new facilities on February 1.

The 81-hectare garden, which opened in 1978, is not only for pleasure and relaxation in a parklike setting, but also for education, research, production and tourism. Protection of the environment is theme throughout.

The area two kilometers southwest of Longhua Pagoda in Xuhui District is internationally famous for its orchid garden and 2,000 bonsai.

It's a magnet for bird-watchers and butterfly lovers.

The Beautifully Landscaped Area of streams and ponds is also noted for its sweet osmanthus, cherry blossoms, lotus, tropical greenhouse and desert "greenhouse," an herb garden for traditional Chinese medicine and many other features.

The grounds contain dozens of spacious sections, featuring magnolias, peonies, azaleas, roses, ferns, bamboo, maples, conifers and other flora.

The garden has more than 5,000 species of plants, including 108 species that are rare or on the verge of extinction.

The plants cultivated by the garden have awards in international flower shows, including those in Canada and the Netherlands.

The Orchid House contains more than 300 species of orchids. Some were donated by the patriotic general Zhang Xueliang, others by Japanese collectors.

The Bonsai Garden is one of the largest in the world, containing more than 2,000 bonsai. It is a large complex of corridors, courtyards, pools and rockeries.

The rock bonsai is a display made entirely of rocks that are carved and glued together to form miniature mountains in pools of water. It is said by some to be China's largest "potted landscape park."

A large greenhouse featuring tropical forests and gardens attracts many photographers. The Cherry Tree Zone contains more than 20 species.

A traditional Chinese medicine herb garden contains more than 600 species.

The Exhibition Greenhouse, a popular tourist attraction, is a modern botanical greenhouse, containing a "tropicarium" for tropical plants, the other for desert plants.

The tropical area includes rainforest plants and flowers that bloom all year around. The desert area features strangely shaped cactus and rare succulent plants. Visitors may feel they are walking in a desert.

The Exhibition Greenhouse not only explains the world of plants in beautiful settings but also popularizes science and environmentalism.

In addition to precious trees and plants, Shanghai Botanic Garden also features exhibition halls, restaurants, several children's playgrounds and vendors.

The garden has displays year round, notably in spring and autumn. More than 10,000 sweet osmanthus shrubs bloom three times a year, spreading fragrance throughout the garden.

The garden as a memorial temple, originally built in 1728. It is dedicated to Huang Daopo, who is said to have started Shanghai's cotton industry by bringing the knowledge of spinning and weaving to the region from Hainan Island.