Yuexiu Park 越秀公园 – Guangzhou, China
The school bell rang and I rushed to the MTR station to meet with my friends. We were about to go to the largest park in Guangzhou, called Yue Xiu Park. I had actually planned to visit the park with some other friends, but unfortunately at that time it was holiday and the site was absolutely packed with people queuing on the ticket counter. So we called off our plan. Thank God on the day I visited the park for the second time, it was less crowded.
Yue Xiu park is so famous not only because of its massive area, but also because it has the statue of five rams on top of the mountain which has been regarded as the symbol and emblem of Guangzhou city by the local people. You could even find the picture of the statue printed on the MTR card. The park is accessible by bus, MTR or taxi, with the fastest of all is MTR. So, take MTR until you reach Yue Xiu Park station, and just follow the directions on the board until you get there. The admission fee to the park is 5 Yuan, with an additional of 5 Yuan if you would like to buy the tourist guide map. With the map, you could know the name of the sites you visit and it prevents you from getting lost in such large park.
Occupying an area of approximately 900,000 square meters and stretching for 3 km from the east to the west, Yue Xiu park has become the largest comprehensive cultural and recreational park in downtown Guangzhou. Located within the range of Yue Xiu mountain, which is 7000 meters above the sea level, the park is one of the earliest parks that was once also a place of interest. It was not until 1949 that the notorious status of the park as a place for gangsters and cemetery changed into the most famous landmark in Guangzhou area. The idea to enlarge and made the area as a scenic park was pioneered by the Father of Modern China, Sun Yat Sen. Unfortunately his wish was not realized until the liberation of Guangzhou. The park was once named after “Chao Han Tower”, which was built by Zhao Tua, the Nan Yue Emperor of the West Han Dynasty. Not long after that, a guanyin pavilion was constructed in the Yongle period and the park was then called Guanyin mountain.
Surrounded with verdant trees, flowers, and serene lakes, the park offers endless opportunities for nature lovers and artisans to immerse themselves in its tranquility and laid-back elegance. It is house to over than one million exotic trees including cypresses, pines, kapoks, manoglias and some other 600 varieties of trees. Due to the rich plantations inside, the park also acts as a natural defense in the northern park along with Bai Yun Mountain. Every year, it also hosts the famous Guangzhou Flower Exhibition.
There are five entrance gates to the park. You could freely choose through which gate you would like to enter.
The park is filled with beautiful flowers of various types and colors, for which it is reputed
Some of the most enjoyable sites in the park are Ancient City Wall, Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, Monument of Sun Yat Sen’s reading and operation site, the Graveyard of Shaowu Emperor and his subordinates, a group statue of the five rams legend, a ball-shaped tower and most important of all the Five Rams statue. Inside the park, there is a very large stadium which can accommodate more than 30.000 people. The existence of all these sites plus the exuberant plants inside has added vigor to the park and made it a combination of cultural relics and ecological tourism.
