If the first sighting of cherry blossom last week wasn’t enough, then prepare yourself for the coming Shanghai Cherry Blossom Festival commencing this Friday, March 16 at Gucun Park.
Covering an area of 4.3 million square meters, Gucun Park comes first in both the number and variety of cherry blossoms in Shanghai. Together there are over 12,000 blossoms covering 82 species.
To make this year’s festival even more spectacular, Gucun Park has introduced several new species of cherry blossoms, including 40 Weeping Higan Cherry blossoms, which, as the name suggests, spreads its branches in a weeping way. “In the blooming period, which usually falls in early April, the flowers will look exactly like pink waterfalls,” advises Zhang Zhong, president of Gucun Park.
According to Zhang, the blooming date for many species has been postponed this year due to the changing weather conditions. To ensure that visitors don’t miss the transient blooming period of the cherry blossoms, staff will regularly update information on the park’s official WeChat account (WeChat ID: gucunpark).
There are five sections of cherry blossoms scattered throughout Gucun Park which means visitors can appreciate the ‘sakura’ flowers as soon as they arrive, regardless of which gate they enter. In addition to cherry blossoms, there are also 10 thousand square meters of tulips and 200 thousand square meters of other flower varieties such as orchids, cole flowers and pot marigold.
Commencing in 2011, Gucun Park has hosted their annual Chery Blossom Festive for seven consecutive years. Being a magnet for locals and tourists alike, last year the festival broke its own record by attracting 182,966 visitors in merely one day.
To handle the predictable spike in visitor flow, Gucun Park will arrange shuttle buses to collect visitors from the nearest Metro stations of Line 7. In addition, there are 5,400 parking spaces to manage those who drive.
According to the Weather Channel, this week will see the temperature back to 20 degrees Celsius again. It seems that the cherry blossom really is the harbinger of spring.
The Shanghai Cherry Blossom Festival at Gucun Park will run until April 15. So, what are you waiting for? Start planning a spring outing surrounded by a visual feast of cherry blossoms with your family, before the opportunity slips away.
