Flowers begin to bloom as Shanghai parks welcome spring

Credit: Rui Guoqing

Caption: Plum blossoms flower at Haiwan National Forest Park.

With the clock ticking down to spring, all things in nature have begun to revive. A floral feast is just around the corner in Shanghai.

And the humble flower must be the protagonist for February and March as Women's Day also approaches. The first breath of spring is in the air with blossoms starting to flower in the city.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Oriental Green Land is awash with plum blossom.

Plum Blossom

Now is the best time to appreciate the plum blossoms.

The Shanghai Plum Blossom Festival kicked off at Shanghai Haiwan National Forest Park in suburban Fengxian District recently.

The park's plum blossom garden, relying on the historical context of the "five ancient plum trees," has created architectural landscapes themed around the essence of the Jin, Sui, Tang and Song dynasties.

The garden has been adorned with ancient plant landscapes to create an ideal environment for plum blossom appreciation.

On Women's Day, half-price admission will be offered for female visitors to the park.

Clusters of red plum blossoms adorn the twisted branches, and the green calyxes scatter a gentle fragrance, marking the beginning of the Jiangnan (the region to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River) plum blossom season.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: A park in Fengxian District has turned into a sea of flowers.

In the region, appreciating plum blossoms has long been a refined and poetic tradition passed down through time.

At Oriental Green Land in suburban Qingpu District, the Jiangnan plum blossom season will start on Saturday, featuring a variety of intangible cultural heritage activities in addition to flower appreciation.

Traditional Chinese opera performances such as suona and Huangmei opera shows will be staged, and visitors will be invited to learn how to make Chinese rice cakes.

Century Park in the Pudong New Area, which boasts over 500 wintersweet and more than 4,000 plum blossom trees, is also a spot to appreciate the flower. The plum blossom display this year features five major scenic areas in the plum garden and a mini landscape themed "Three Friends of Winter."

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Tulips are in full bloom at Shanghai Botanic Garden.

Tulip, cherry blossom and camellia flower

Tulips have flowered at Shanghai Botanic Garden in Xuhui District. In front of its waterfall, the monochromatic tulips burn like fire.

Visitors will also find a sea of tulips in colorful waves, in shades of pink, apricot, and gold, presenting a myriad of graceful postures.

Also, Chenshan Botanic Garden in suburban Songjiang District, one of the best-known appreciation spots for the flower in Shanghai, has witnessed the flowering of a few prunus kanzakura cherry blossoms, which is an early blooming variety of the flower.

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Cherry blossoms herald spring.

The garden boasts a 1.5-kilometer avenue of cherry blossom trees that looks like a pink tunnel, and it is expected to enter its best viewing period in late February.

Meanwhile, flower-themed exhibitions have also opened in the city.

Camellia represents a spirit of resilience as even in extreme environments, the flower remains lively, waiting for spring to arrive. An exhibition centering on the blossom is running through the end of March in Songjiang, presenting to the public a sensory journey interwoven with sculptures, kinetic art installations, painting, and digital interaction.

The artistic feast themed "Beauty of Resilience," curated by Xie Mu, a veteran curator, deeply integrates the life aesthetics of the oriental camellia flower, featuring a series of artworks such as "Melt" and "Freezing Rain," embodying art, culture, and sustainable concepts.