- Gordon Dumoulin
'Tulip fever' in Wuhan and Shanghai...
Spring has arrived which means explosion of tulips in various places in China, loved by the people. Two cities, most known for its tulip parks and exhibitions are Wuhan and Shanghai.
Some parks have themes from the Netherlands as tulips are renowned being the Dutch national flower.
Shanghai's Jing'an district is every year 'blanketed' with about 1.5 million tulips, especially in the Jing'an sculpture park. Wuhan has a special permanent tulip park, Dongxihu (or East and West Lake) Tulip Theme Park out in the countryside north-west from the city with Dutch themes. Apart from the tulip seasons, the park displays lots of flowers throughout summer.
This year, the Wuhan Botanical Garden at the side of the East Lake has a special section with 600,000 tulips and 200,000 other spring blooming flowers. Wuhan Botanical Garden has a collection of more than 4000 species of flora. The garden has a regular program to educate and create awareness about plant life and biodiversity amongst the general public.
The Wuhan Botanical Garden was created in 1956 and is one of China's three research-oriented botanical gardens. It has 16 specialty gardens. Its Kiwifruit Garden and the National Kiwifruit Germplasm Repository contain over 70 percent of the world's kiwifruit species. Similarly, the Aquatic Plant Garden is the largest of its kind in the world. Its Wild Fruit Garden, the Rare and Endangered Plant Garden, and the Medicinal Herb Garden are the largest in China.
Tulip parks can be found in quite some cities all over China. Tulips in Beijing can be found in the rural outskirts at the International Flower Port or at Jinzhan Tulip Garden in Chaoyang district but usually a little later in April and beginning of May due to the colder climate up north.