Park perks up with pretty plum blossoms
Print Edition
YESTERDAY was jingzhe, the third of 24 solar terms on the traditional Chinese calendar. Jingzhe means the awakening of hibernating insects, which means the weather is going to warm up soon. The term also denotes that it’s the best time of year to appreciate plum blossoms.
Century Park in Pudong New Area is one of Shanghai’s best spots to see the pretty and delicate flowers.
The ongoing Century Park Plum Blossom Festival runs until the end of March. Visitors may leave impressed after taking a stroll in the park as 4,700 plum trees create a scene seemingly out of a fairy tale.
The blossoms typically have five petals — single or multi-layered — and pink, white and yellow are the most common colors for blossoms.
Scholars have long written about plum blossoms in poems and artists have depicted the trees in paintings for centuries.
Song Dynasty (960-1279) poet Wang Anshi has the most well-known poems on plum blossoms. One goes:
“At a wall corner some plum trees grow; Alone against cold white blossom blow. Aloof one knows they aren’t the snow; As faint through soft fragrances flow.”
Plum blossoms are both a symbol of winter and harbinger of spring in Chinese culture. For this reason the flower is wildly appreciated as they bloom in the cold weather while most other plants have shed their leaves.
It is a “noble” flower that braves the cold. The fragrance of plum blossoms “comes from the bitterness and coldness,” a Chinese saying goes. Plum blossoms are seen as an example of resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity. In addition, since the blossoms and fragrance are elegant, it serves as a metaphor for inner beauty and humbleness.
Song Dynasty poet Lin Bu thought of the blossoms as his soul mate. The man remained single his whole life and lived alone in the mountains. His humble house was surrounded by more than 300 plum trees. Cranes were common on his property. People later said the “plum tree was his wife and the cranes his sons.”
Along with pine and bamboo, plum trees are known as the “Three Friends of Winter” and a member of the “Four Gentlemen” in art (the others being orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum) symbolizing nobility.
In Century Park, there are four major spots to see the trees. At the entrance gate next to Plum Blossom Orchard is an area with all kinds of plum trees, including rare species from other parts of China. Visitors can enjoy the flowers and scent in the air.
Another area has a huge number of plum trees and is popular with shutterbugs looking for a good photo.
Walking on the paths lined with plum trees makes for a relaxing outing and the park is one of few in downtown Shanghai that offers a stroll like this.
Junyu Garden combines traditional culture and art with plum trees. In this area, visitors can look at elegant plum trees, along with miniature trees and odd-shaped rocks.
Century Park Plum Blossom Festival
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