When thinking of China’s cities many people have Shanghai and its big skyscrapers in mind – hectic city life, hundreds of people in the streets, noise and pollution.
But there is also another side of Chinese cities. Each of them has a number of parks and all of them have different ‘specialities’. No park is like the other but they all have one thing in common: there is always something to do. No park is just trees, a lake and grass fields.

Each park has small shops where you can buy traditional things, scarves, sunglasses, (jade) bracelets, and much more. There are also stores where you can buy drinks, snacks (like popcorn, one of my favourites) and  usually coconuts.

Some have religious places with shrines, many have hills or mountains which you can climb and if there is a lake you usually can hire boats to paddle on the lake. Most of the parks that have mountains also have gondolas at the peak of the mountain where one can enjoy the view. Other parks also offer small amusement or water parks. Most of the time, you can also find playgrounds for small children.

The last one I visited had an aviary where you can pet different parrots and see birds that were trained in different things. I made friends there with a Cacadu which I named Fritz (check the pictures). That park also has a cable cart going up the mountain but to go back down you needed to take a slide which was a lot of fun!

All parks are nicely decorated and are taken care of. You can easily spend a whole day there. If you do so you can enjoy the beautiful lights in the park – especially by the lake. It is a really nice way of spending your Sunday. J

See you and 再见，

Gianna aka Gini aka 吉娜

Apply now for an internship in Zhuhai if you would like to see this relaxed side of China.