Lianhuashan Park

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Lianhuashan Park is situated in Futian near the CBD in Shenzhen. There is a subway station right next to the entrance to the park so getting there was very easy. I wasn't that impressed with the park at first. as there wasn't much to see as I walked through, just trees, nice wide path ways and some high rises, which I wasn't sure if they were homes or office buildings. I came to the Yangrihu Lake scenic spot. The lake wasn't very big and I still wasn't that impressed. There were a few people about, taking a walk along the edge of the lake or relaxing on its banks. I did spot some beautiful autumnal looking trees and so I made my way over to those. There was a boardwalk between the trees, so I had a short but enjoyable walk through there. The colours were beautiful especially when the light hit the trees. I also spotted some ducks chilling in the lake. From there I walked along a stunning tree covered path, the way the trees bended and twisted to create a canopy over the walkway was great.

I knew that the park had a hill to climb that offered some great views of Shenzhen, I found Liling Road, which leads to the path up. There was a bird, which I think was an egret walking along the path in front of me. I tried not to get too close as I didn't want to spook it, but I also wanted to get close enough to get some photos. I managed to get a few shots. The path came to a clearing which had a pagoda to sit in, so I chilled there for a bit reading. The trail up the hill also started from here so I headed up the stairs following the sign for Deng Xiaoping Statue Square. After only a few steps, I came across a cute kitty chilling on the stairs. S/he moved to a spot under the trees as I got closer. The light shone down on him/her and s/he looked very content there. It didn't take long before the trail came out on the road and I spotted a lizard catching some sun on the back of the sign for the Rainforest Valley. I headed up the palm tree lined road and came to a sign that I had no idea about. It was all in Chinese and I presumed it was something to do with the Deng Xiaoping Statue Square, maybe some famous quote by him. I could just make out his statue through the gaps in the trees ahead. I made my way round to the square and I was rather surprised at how big it was. I hadn't expected there to be quite so much open space. There were also a few security guards around scrutinising everyone that was walking around. At first I was a bit gutted that the statue of Deng Xiaoping had some scaffolding around it, but later when I watched the staff at work cleaning the statue I was glad I got to see it and take some photos as it was interesting. The views of the CBD were also pretty good, the sky was a little hazy but I could see all the skyscrapers of the fancy office buildings and the pink flowers from the park added a nice splash of colour. I found a nice spot under the shade of a tree and took a rest there.

I took a different path down the hill. I followed a sign for Lotus Lake and ended up there. The lake was much larger than the one I'd seen earlier and was kind of split into two with a proper path between to the two sections. I headed to the back of the lake first and walked around that part. I loved that there were autumnal coloured trees lining the lake. It looked so pretty. There was also a pagoda nestled into the trees that looked really cute. Across the lake I could see the CBD. I liked the contrast of the city and nature. After walking around the lakes, I headed to the exit and the nearest subway station, which was located at the edge of the park and right by the large buildings that I had seen from Deng Xiaoping Square. I really liked the park, the square at the top of the hill was nicer than I had imagined and the views were good. I also liked how accessible it was by metro.

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