Early Bloomers: 8 of Beijing's Must-See Spring Flowers
As we take our warm-weather clothes out
of storage, nature is also shedding its winter coat and donning its
spring finery. By now, the last traces of winter should be gone and
you’ll be able to spot many new species flitting between budding trees.
Ancient
Chinese poets loved to extoll the arrival of spring. Take the following
Tang dynasty poem, Spring Dawn (春晓 chūnxiǎo)by 孟浩然 Mèng
Hàorán:
by Meng Haoran
I wake up at the dawn of spring,
And hear the birds everywhere sing.
As sounded the wind and rain overnight,
I wonder how many blooms alight.
春眠不觉晓，
处处闻啼鸟。
夜来风雨声，
花落知多少。
Chūnmián bù jué xiǎo,
Chùchù wén tí niǎo.
Yèlái fēngyǔ shēng,
Huā luò zhī duōshǎo.
Most
of the plant species in Beijing only bloom between late March and May,
so now is the best time to break out of the daily grind in search of
nature. Besides the popular peach and cherry blossoms, you might find
yourself surprised by the sheer diversity of Beijing’s flora. We
spotlight eight plant species below, along with the best places to enjoy
their beauty.
Note: Due to the special circumstances created by
Covid, many of Beijing's parks and gardens are closed, or have
restricted admittance numbers. While you can check opening hours on ten
popular Beijing parks via this handy WeChat mini-app, some of which
appear in this article, we recommend calling ahead just to be safe (esp.
if they aren't in the mini-app).
If you can’t make it to Japan for hanami, your second-best choice is Yuyuantan Park in Haidian District. You’ll find a sea of 2,000 pink, yellow, and white cherry trees in bloom, most of which are diplomatic gifts from Japan. Expect huge crowds on weekends. Best times to visit: Late March to mid-April.
Did you know that the Beijing Botanical
Garden has the largest peach garden in the city? Get up early and lose
yourself among the thousands of peach trees before the masses descend on
the place. Best times to visit: Early April to early May.
Every spring, visitors flood into
Fenghuangling Nature Park to see apricot buds burst into a sea of pink
flowers. Apricot trees cover approximately 400,000sqm of the park. Families can also enjoy hiking the green hills and exploring thick
forests. Best times to visit: Early to mid-April.
Located just west of Tian’anmen square, Zhongshan Park is the only place in Beijing where you’ll find an abundance of tulips. The bulbs were gifted to China from Holland in the 1970s. Best times to visit: Mid-April to mid-May.
The most beautiful flowers are often the most fleeting. Chinese adore pear blossoms but they only seem to flower for a few days each year, so it's important to know where to look. Though better known for the quality of its watermelons, Daxing District is also home to Lihua Village which boasts more than 30,000 pear trees. Make a weekend of it by staying at one of the many guesthouses there, and visit some of the local shops and restaurants. Best times to visit: Mid-April.
Crabapple trees bloom later than peach and cherry trees and the flowering season lasts longer. Every April, more than 3,000 crabapple trees bring crowds to the Yuan Dynasty City Wall Relics Park, a normally quiet retreat that follows the border between Haidian and Chaoyang districts. Best times to visit: Early April to May
The ancient magnolia tree was favored by Chinese emperors and produces large, fragrant flowers. The magnolia trees at Tianzhe Temple are the most famous, as some of the specimens are over 300 years old. The white and lilac blossoms are made even more enjoyable by the tranquility of the surroundings. Best times to visit: April and May.
Formerly grown only for the emperor, the peony is the floral emblem of China and is associated with fortune, prosperity, and nobility. The “king of flowers” produces massive, heavy blooms that range in color from fuchsia to pure white, canary yellow, and cotton candy pink. To get a close look at these revered flowers, head to Jingshan Park just north of the Palace Museum. Best times to visit: Mid-April to late May.
This article originally appeared on our sister account Jingkids International.
Images: theblackdesertonline.com, onlone.com, RL Hyde (Flickr), Saltmarsh (Flickr)
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