Zhongshan Park

Sitting in the foreground of elegant Taiping Mountain in the east, Zhongshan Park is the largest and oldest park in Qingdao City. It faces the sea in the south and is surrounded by mountains in other three directions. Built in 1901, the park got its present name in 1929 in memory of the provisional president Dr. Sun Yat-sen (or Sun Zhongshan), a great forerunner of the Chinese bourgeois-democratic revolution.

Covering an area of 75 hectares (185 acres), Zhongshan Park contains more than 100,000 plants and over 360 species including Kentucky coffee trees, oak trees, medicinal magnolia barks and some foreign species that are rare in China. In addition, there is a magnificent Cherry Blossom Road just opposite the entrance. More than 20,000 cherry trees transplanted from Japan decades ago are growing along the 600-meter-long (1,969-foot-long) road. From mid-April, the vast areas of cherry trees present a splendid view of blooming flowers and are considered one of the ten most spectacular sights of the city. Appreciating the cherry blossoms in Zhongshan Park has become a yearly event for the tourists.

The annual Summer Lantern Show and Late-autumn Chrysanthemum Show are also popular with tourists. In summer, colorful imperial lanterns, gauze lanterns and lamps for marine use from Chengdu, Zigong, Nanjing and other places compete with the traditional lanterns of Zhongshan Park for the attention of visitors. The lantern show has been held for nearly twenty years and has become a distinctive garden party comparable to the Cherry Bloom Festival. The Late-autumn Chrysanthemum Show in late autumn started in the 1950s and features a great number of rare species.

It also has a sweet-osmanthus garden, a peony garden and some other gardens planted with special species. Late autumn brings to the sweet-osmanthus garden the sweet scent of the blooming flowers. The peony represents richness, honor, good luck and happiness; therefore, the peony garden in Zhongshan Park is a hot spot for tourists. Gorgeous tulips from Holland in red, pink, yellow and purple add exotic glamour to the park. Since the camellia and the Chinese rose are the city flowers, special gardens have been set up with plantings of over 2 hectares (4.94 acres).

To commemorate Dr. Sun Yat-sen and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Zhongshan Park, a bust of Dr. Sun was erected in the park in 2001. The park also has a special lotus which symbolizes the friendship between Sun Yat-sen and a Japanese friend who made a contribution to Dr. Sun’s revolutionary activities.
 

1. Take Metro Line 3 to Zhongshan Gongyuan (Zhongshan Park).
2. Take Bus 6, 15, 26, 31, 202, 206, 214, 219, 223, 228, 228 Express, 231, 302, or 304 to Zhongshan Gongyuan.
Qingdao Bus Search

Location	No. 28, Wendeng Road, Shinan District, Qingdao
Entrance Fee	Free
Opening Hours	9:00 - 21:00
Cable Car	The 1,100m (3,609f) ropeway with comfortable double hanging chairs deserves a try. It has three stations, including Zhongshan Park, Taiping Mountain and Zhanshan Temple.