Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,
 
What an absolute pearler of a day mate!
If I was at home I'd tell my friends I was absolutely knackered!
 
Today I spent the day walking around the two huge green patches on the Guangzhou city map and strangely as stunning as all the separate gardens I visited are, none of them are in any guidebooks. I began my day by wasting more than two hours walking there and trying to locate where to enter the damn gardens. The map only gives two names and they are Luhu Park and Yuntai Gardens but what they don't let you know is the Luhu Park is actually broken up into many separate parks and gardens etc.
 
After walking from my hotel all the way along Huanshi Zhonglu to Xiatang Xilu I figured most streets in the area would have a ticket booth and entrance into the gardens. Normally in China each garden or park will usually have a north, south, east and west entrance (or at least two of them). So I walked for another hour along Xiatang Xilu and after finding no entrance I flagged down a taxi and let him do it for me. As he had no idea either it took a little longer than usual.
 
In the end what we figured out that there was no actual entrance to Luhu Park.
There were in fact many entrances to other smaller parks.
 
I have no idea where I got out of the cab I just know there was a peddle boat ticket booth. After paying my friendly driver I simply began to walk along the lakeside footpath until I came across a beautiful stone bridge that offered the chance of a short cut. I almost crossed the bridge but thankfully I didn't as at the end of the lake is the small yet beautiful Jufang Garden.
 
Here is what it said on the ticket booth.
 
'Situated on the north bank of Luhu Park Lake the Jufang Park covers a land area of 170,000 square meters. Leaning against a mountain and located beside water, the garden boasts both natural landscapes and garden sceneries. Standing on the Honghu Tower at the mountain top, visitors can get a bird's eye view to beautiful lakes and mountains and sceneries of Guangzhou. The statue of Mr Ma Sicong, an outstanding Chinese composer, violinist and music educationist of the 20th Century is set against the garden.   The garden boasts such scenic spots as Zhiyi Pavilion, Honghu Tower and Baiyun Fangcao and it is a plant themed park.
 
The views from the hill top tower (Honghu Tower) really do offer awesome views of not only the city but also it allows one the opportunity to comprehend Guangzhou's natural beauty and the fact that it is situated amongst beautiful tree covered mountains. On the way down I dropped into the Zhiyi Pavilion but as to what the Baiyun Fangcao was I have no idea.
 
After leaving Jufang Park I continued on my journey along the lake side and soon came across The Xinghai Memorial which is a tiny yet extremely green and beautiful memorial for yet another great Chinese composer named Xian Xinghai. It was an offering to the city by the Guangdong Association of Musicians and the city government in 1985. On the day of its opening Xian Xinghai's ashes arrived from Beijing and he was laid to rest beneath the foundations of the large sculpture of himself.
 
The park also offers visitors the chance to play a round or two on its free badminton courts.
It also offers freely the use of its other fitness facilities.
 
Awhile after leaving the Xinghai Memorable I came across civilization on the crowded Guangyuan Donglu and after asking a few people where the Yuntai Gardens were I crossed the crowded round-a-bout and was soon standing at the ticket both which surprise to me is right next to the Cable Car that takes you all the way to the top of Baiyun Shan (White Cloud Hills). So when the Lonely Planet says that Bus 24 takes you all the way to the bottom of the cable car they are right. But it would also help a lot more if they told you that it was also at the ticket booth of Yuntai Gardens (and not the confusing 'at the bottom of the hill near Luhu Park).
 
Yuntai Garden costs 10 Yuan to enter.
 
Located south of Baiyun Mountain, Yuntai Gardens offer a landscape style garden with distinctive Lingnan characters. It combines both Oriental and Western styles through the use of Chinese and European architecture and also combines flowers and plants from the world's most exotic botanical regions. The garden represents a combination of both ancient and modern cultures. A petal shaped glass green house is filled to the brim with subtropical palms, cactuses and other rare plants.
 
Small waterfalls flow into the parks small rivers that are lined with much colourful beauty.
 
There are totem poles that represent the merging of ancient times through to the present. There is a flower clock along with statues of the symbols that represent the Asian twelve year cycle. Guangzhou's sister cities from the USA, Germany, Canada and Japan have all donated to and influenced the gardens settings and buildings. As usual I made straight for the hilltop pavilion but was let down by the fact that it didn't offer a scrape of a view. By now my legs were slowly becoming jelly like so thankfully I took a wrong turn on the way down and ended up at the hilltop store which offered a pleasant view of the park at least.
 
I would put the Yuntai Gardens near the top of China's most beautiful and colourful gardens.
They really are extremely beautiful and offer so much of the world in one park.
Many may say they are a little tacky and I would simply ask them how many other Chinese parks and gardens they have visited. The Yuntai Gardens are very un-tacky when compared to many other Chinese parks and gardens and they offer more than probably one hundred other parks and gardens offer all in one.
 
At closing time (18:00) I ventured out and walked around in search of where to catch Bus 24.
If it took you there it must also take you back to the city.
 
I found the Baiyunshan Bus Station directly across the road (not the roundabout) and thankfully Bus No: 24 starts its rounds there so I got a seat and made it all the way back to the Jiniantang Subway station for only two Yuan. At the metro I found a Subway Restaurant and decided as it has been four years since I have actually seen a Subway Restaurant it was time to kick back and eat a Six Inch Chicken Teriyaki along with a coffee and to then spend a few hours writing up my day.
 
It then cost me another two Yuan to get back to the Sanyuanli station.
All up my day cost under 70 Yuan.
 
Beers N Noodles toya.....shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was by the Beastie Boys
The album was 'The In Sound From Way Out'
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