Cycle around the best scenery in downtown Shanghai
One of the things I like most in Shanghai is to hop on a bike and enjoy the different scenery of the city.
Golden foliage on Julu Road, skyline along the Huangpu River, paddy fields on Chongming Island and the city's ever-expanding greenway ― each brings a newfangled biking experience.
Fiona explores the great autumn scenery on the Changning Outer-Ring Greenway.
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With a total length of 6.25 kilometers, the Changning Outer-Ring Greenway is the only one of its kind that runs through a whole district in Shanghai.
Biking
毗邻虹桥机场的长宁外环绿道，以绝美的秋日景观著称，也是全市唯一一条贯穿全区的生态绿道。
The greenway is great as you don't see any waterfalls, towering cliffs or mountainous peaks. And, contradictorily, that's the absolute charm of it. The beauty is the route itself and being out, immersed in the city's colorful scenery.
Fiona bikes across a wisteria corridor.
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During the trip, you'll cross the dawn redwood forest, get engulfed in blooming hairawn muhly, ride over golden ginkgo leaves, pass through viaducts and rivers – nine bridges, a box culvert, a tunnel and an overpass were built to keep the greenway running, each with a unique design.
Scenery
6.25公里的旅程中，你会经过成片的水杉秘境、看湖泊倒映出渐变色的森林，你会跨过9座各具特色的桥梁，从河流、小溪、紫藤花廊、甚至高架丛林中鱼跃而过，你会遇到158种特色植物，盛放的粉黛乱子草、正值花期的墨西哥鼠尾草、开满“爆米花”的乌桕树、果实累累的文旦树……
这个季节特有的彩色森林，加上各种神奇植物散发出的迷人香气，让这场旅行变得立体又有趣。
Accompanied by Cheng Long, a landscape architect of the greenway, I found a lot of plants rarely seen in daily life, as well as interesting details of ecological designs.
Cheng told me that there are 158 different types of plants along the greenway. The sea of flowers appear in every season: cherry blossoms and four kinds of magnolia flowers open spring; golden wave coreopsis starts in May; hydrangea brings in early summer; pink muhly grass colors fall, even in winter; and the wintersweet flower blooms to celebrate the Spring Festival.
There are blooming flowers all the way on the route.
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During the biking trip, I crossed several wisteria corridors full of bean pods, which must be splendid when they bloom in spring.
Fiona bikes across a wisteria corridor.
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According to Cheng, autumn is the most beautiful season for the greenway. In addition to the colorful maples and gingkos, the rosemary, verbena and Mexican salvia give off fresh scents.
Do not miss the Chinese tallow tree. As a native tree species of China, it has a history of 1,400 years. It has heart-shaped leaves and popcorn-like fruits, which is one of the favorite foods of migratory birds, so local people always call it "popcorn tree."
The popcorn-like fruit of the Chinese tallow tree
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This deciduous tree puts on a magnificent autumn display. Before the leaves drop in fall, they turn from green to beautiful shades of red, gold, orange and purple.
Plants
乌桕树是一种中国特色乡土树种，在上海的街道上鲜少种植，但在这里却可以看到很多。
秋季也是乌桕树最好看的季节，叶子从绿色逐渐变成红色、金色、橙色，再到紫色。乌桕树的果实也很有意思，成熟的时候，像一个个蓬松的爆米花——因此也得名为“爆米花树”。
It's rarely seen on the city streets, but there are plenty of them along the greenway.
Then you arrive at the dawn redwood forest, one of the most popular attractions of the greenway. It's got the name "Jinglin" (mirror forest) due to the unique landscape – the dawn redwood reflected on the water.
Mirror forest
水杉镜林是整个外环绿道中最受欢迎的景点之一，现在正是水杉最好看的季节——红色的水杉倒映在水面上，呈现出一幅绝美的秋日画面。
这块湿地也是“海绵城市”规划的一部分，让城市能够像海绵一样，在环境的变化和自然灾害等方面具有良好的“弹性”。
"The mirror forest is an artificial wetland in an urban area, a part of the sponge city design, in which rainwater is kept and absorbed where it falls through sustainable urban drainage systems, collected and treated in urban run-off before it reaches the rivers," Cheng explained.
The 10.78-hectare water area along the greenway is also a bird habitat. Egrets and gray-tailed magpies flew overhead during my short 10-minute walk on a wooden bridge across the dawn redwood forest.
A bird is seen in the greenway wetland.
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In this harvest season, crabapple trees are heavy with fruits. I picked up one, a little sour, but it reminded me of my childhood – crabapple used to be a classic snack for kids in autumn.
At the southern end of the greenway, a golden gingko forest displays one of the best autumn scenery of the greenway. The path is covered with a thick layer of gingko leaves, flying around you as you ride by, offering a great experience of the golden season.
The greenway connects three parks – Airport Music Park, Skateboard Park and Hongqiao Sports Park.
During the biking trip on the greenway, there are several stations where one can rest, get drinks from vending machines and charging your mobile phone for free.
Service
骑行途中不用担心补给，每隔一段距离，就会遇到“驿站”，提供自动售货机以及充电服务。
Shared bikes are not allowed but bicycle rental service is available at the Guangshun Road N. and Xianxia Road W. entrances, or you can bring your own bike.
Address | 地址
Guangshun Road N. entrance (near Suzhou Creek)
广顺北路入口（临空音乐公园对面，近苏州河）
Xianxia Road W. entrance (near Xinjing Jiayuan)
仙霞西路入口（近新泾家苑）
Youle Road entrance (near 8 Konggang Road)
友乐路入口（近空港八路）
Opening hours | 营业时间
6:30am-8:30pm (last entry at 8pm)
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Editor: Su Yanxian
Designer/Writer: Fiona Li
Photo: Yan Jingyang and Ma Xuefeng
Video: Shot by Ma Xuefeng and Yan Jingyang. Edited by Ma Xuefeng. Subtitles by Wang Xinzhou and Emma Leaning.