Shanghai Botanical Gardens

Matthew and I first became acquainted with the Shanghai Botanical Garden during our training for the half marathon. It was a great place to run a few miles without having to worry about getting hit by a car. Plus the scenery is nice.

On a beautiful Spring day in April, we decided to visit the gardens once again to catch the cherry blossoms. This time, instead of lacing up our running shoes, we packed a picnic lunch and biked ourselves down to the gardens.

Mobs of other people apparently had the same idea.

Thankfully, the Botanical Garden is massive, covering over 240 acres of land (and holding over 5,000 species of plants) which meant we didn't have to search too hard to find a spot to sit down for our picnic lunch.

Like most parks in China, early mornings are the best time to witness tai chi partitioners, drummers, and community choir performances. You'll also find countless individuals on roller blades as well as the occasional juggler. We once even saw a juggler on rollerblades. Rebel.

The admission fee is 15 rmb to the Garden and 30 to the Conservatory. Or you can get a combined ticket for 40. We've never actually gone into any of the exhibits, but instead prefer to people watch outside.

The Botanical Gardens are located at 1111 Longwu Road, about a 15 minutes walk from the Shanghai South Railway Station Metro station.