The Chinese City of Guangzhou's Parks Are Now Free

On July 1, all the parks in Guangzhou, China, were opened to the public free of charge. I was lucky enough to be in the city on the first day the parks stopped charging admission.

When we heard the city had stopped charging admission, we decided to visit two of the local parks.

Guangzhou is the third largest city in China and is located in the tropics. With the crowds of people and the hot, humid climate, it was great to have the tree-filled parks open as an escape from the urban bustle.

Perhaps the most famous park in the city, Yue Xiu Park, contains many sites of historical and cultural significance to the city. On the day we visited, there were many retired people enjoying the shade and participating in a variety of activities-dancing, singing, playing instruments, playing Chinese chess.

We saw a line of people at the door getting refunds for the tickets they had previously purchased-before the parks were opened up for free.

There were also many tourists, such as myself, there to see the sights.

One of the most famous parts of the park is a big sculpture of five rams with sheaves of rice in their mouths. This sculpture is a symbol of Guangzhou and stems from an ancient legend of how the rams brought prosperity to the city following a famine.

Although you had to climb stone steps up a small mountain to get to many of the attractions (many parks in China seem to be located on or around mountains), the numerous banyan trees offered enough shade that it wasn't too hot.

The art museum was recently relocated, so we weren't able to go there, but we did visit the other museums at the park, one of which concentrated on the city's cultural history, the other concentrating on natural history.

The park was probably more crowded than usual because there was no more admission fee, but the numerous small winding paths provided plenty of little nooks for you to sit and enjoy the day.

We also visited the Liu Hua Hu Park, which was close by. This park is situated around a water lily-filled lake, and has a huge stand of palm trees that give off somewhat of a Jurassic Park atmosphere.

It's great that Guangzhou has opened up its parks to the public for free. Access to the parks for everyone will mean better health for the public in general.