Road less traveled: Chenshan Botanical Garden

Chenshan Botanical Garden is popular among locals. Yan Daming/For China Daily

Chenshan Botanical Garden is popular among locals. Yan Daming/For China Daily

For some fresh air and greenery, head down to Chenshan Botanical Garden, which covers more than 2 sq km in Songjiang district.

Chenshan used to be a quarry for building stone. Chenshan Botanical Garden was constructed to be in harmony with local condition and based on the principle of ecological restoration. That's why the garden has a distinctive pit with peculiar landforms.

The entire garden consists of four major functional areas, namely the central display area, plant conservation area, plants from five continents and the peripheral buffer area.

The garden also has clear signage to lead visitors. Drinks and snacks are available in the garden's store, but it is a good idea to bring a picnic basket to enjoy the cool fall breeze.

Chenshan Botanical Garden displays a wide collection of native plants from East China with the long-term goal of having 30,000 species of plants. To date, it has a collection of more than 9,000 species of distinctive plants and owns the biggest amount of native plants from East China.

Because of the variety of flora and fauna in the garden, it acts as a perfect venue for agri-education for children.

The central display area has 26 nurseries, which is the core of the whole garden. Among them are botanical garden for the blind, the aquatic plants garden and the rock herbs garden.

The section for the visually impaired is designed in such a way that blind people can touch, hear and smell non-toxic and thornless beautiful plants with olfactory characteristics and unique morphology.

Chinese, English, Braille and voice systems are also available in the garden. Special roads and other barrier-free structures including handrails, open pavilions and toilets are constructed for the convenience of these special visitors.

Location: 3888 Chenhua road, Songjiang district, Shanghai.

Tel: 021-3779-2288

Open: 8:30 am-5 pm