Chenshan Botanical Garden occupies a site in Songjiang, in the south-west of the Shanghai municipality, that was assembled from three things: a low hill, a defunct quarry, and open farmland. It opened in 2010 and has become the largest botanical garden in the Shanghai area, and its design is genuinely unusual - rather than levelling the site, the architects kept the quarry and used the vertical rock faces as the basis of a sunken garden.
The quarry garden
The centrepiece is the former quarry pit, now a sunken garden with the original cliffs standing at the sides, water at the base and a planted rim above. Paths and bridges carry you down between the rock walls, which are hung with ferns, mosses and plants chosen for shade and moisture, and a tunnel connects it to the neighbouring section. It is the most distinctive piece of landscape in the city, and worth the journey on its own. Vertical planting on rock is unusual in this climate and Chenshan is one of the few places in China to do it at this scale.
The rest of the garden
The remaining sections cover several themed collections: a large rock and alpine garden on the hill's slopes, a rose garden, a magnolia collection, conifers, aquatic plants around the ponds, and greenhouses holding tropical and arid species. Because the site is large - several hundred hectares - the garden runs on a system of internal paths and a shuttle, and a full circuit is a long walk. Spring is the peak season for blossom and bulbs; autumn brings colour in the tree collections; high summer is hot and exposed on the hill.
Practical notes
Chenshan is in Songjiang, reachable by metro to the Songjiang area and then a taxi, or by car. Admission is charged, and the internal shuttle costs extra. There are cafes and picnic areas on site, and food options nearby are limited, so bring water. Because the garden is not on the standard tourist route it stays relatively quiet even in the blossom weeks, unlike the central parks. Combine it with Zuibaichi and Songjiang's old town for a full day out of the city.
