Wanshi Botanical Gardens

Today is the start of the three day Dragon Boat holiday. Since students get Thursday and Friday off, they are expected to return to classes on Sunday. What one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away. For my holiday, I decided to walk the entire Wanshi Botanical Garden. I found one statistic stating that the Garden covers 2.27 square kilometers with over 5,300 kinds of tropical and subtropical plants, many found nowhere else on earth. I didn't convince anyone else to join me. I went in no particular order and I had no map. I spent six hours winding my way through one themed garden after another - truly exquisite.

I somehow managed to miss the front gate and walked in here. Nearby were some trash cans. On the streets of Xiamen, there are always two trash cans - one for trash and one for recyclables. Kudos to Xiamen! But here at the Wanshi Botanical Garden, the trash cans are disguised as tree stumps.

My first day in Xiamen, I noticed that I recognized all the plants I saw, because almost all of them grow within a half mile radius of my house in Florida. The fruits they serve up in fruit smoothies are the same ones I grow. But there are a few differences. I haven't seen any sea grapes here. The roots of banyans don't destroy everything in their vicinity. And there are far more plantings and varieties of bamboo. Wanshi Gardens provided some lovely areas of bamboo. I was surprised by the look of the bamboo leaf litter. It lends more of a geometric feel than pine straw or fallen oak leaves.

There was a large temple in the garden with lots of Buddhas. And in another area, I spied a dancing Buddha with sunglasses made of stone.

I climbed up a hill and up a rock to get a nice view. So, here is a view of me taking in a view of the park.

One of the highlights of the garden were the cactus displays and specimen plants.

Somebody is practicing arborsculpture with ficus plants. Arborsculpture is the art of creating a useful and/or beautiful object by grafting tree trunks and branches to themselves. Some folks are growing furniture. Others are more ambitious and are trying to grow a house. I am experimenting with arborsculpture at home. I am using guava plants and I have not been successful to date, but I am intrigued by the prospect of growing a lattice wall or a chair.

The true beauty of the gardens were the unexpected surprises as I turned each corner. I rounded a rock to see a spectacular lake covered in lotus plants and blossoms. I climbed a set of stone stairs and on the other side was a view of downtown Xiamen. I walked through a doorway and came face to face with a tree full or flowering orchids and ficus roots growing around the trunk from sky to dirt. Another name for the Garden is the 10,000 Rock Botanical Garden. Between the rocks and the beautifully landscaped stone trails, each turn provided some unpredictable visual gem.