Tuesday                                                            Jing鈥檃n is a potted history of Shanghai. Century-old villas, well-pre-
27 March                                                            served traditional shikumen neighborhoods with high walls and stone gates,
                                                                    and renovated factories all have a story to tell.
   2018
                                                                    Glitzy retail malls, charming boutiques and annual music and arts events give
 C                                                                  the district a distinctive ambience and ever-growing opportunities.

                                                                    In this series, we explore some of the landmarks that have come to charac-
                                                                    terize the district鈥檚 culture and history.

JING鈥橝N                     Daning Park, one of the largest parks in downtown Shanghai, is famous for its annual tulip festival. 鈥?All photos by Jiang Xiaowei

                              Carpets of tulips herald spring
                                in one of city鈥檚 iconic parks

Scan on WeChat to have       Li Qian                                west and south gates, provide only    The beautiful white sand beach is a popular destination
real-time update of what鈥檚                                          138 parking spots. Visitors are ad-   for locals seeking a weekend getaway.
happening in the district.  Spring has officially arrived,          vised to take public transit to the
(Chinese only)                       and that means tulips 鈥?       park or leave their cars in nearby    A touch of the Netherlands, with a windmill amid millions
                                     millions of them 鈥?coming      shopping mall lots.                   of that nation鈥檚 most famous flower
                                     into full blossom in Daning
                             Park. What more perfect place for         Daning Park, opened in May
                             a spring outing!                       2002, covers an area equivalent to
                                                                    more than 95 football pitches, one
                                The park displays 45 different      of the largest parks in downtown
                             species of the flower, three times     Shanghai.
                             more than last year. The carpet of
                             vibrant colors covers the area of         It features beautiful landscap-
                             about six football fields.             ing and artistic rockery. Its iconic
                                                                    landmark is a 2,596-square-meter
                                The array includes orange blos-     beach made with thousands of tons
                             soms emitting a golden hue in          of imported white sand.
                             sunlight, white blossoms appear-
                             ing as delicate as porcelain, and         As the only white sand beach
                             hot pink blossoms that sway in the     in a park around Shanghai, it has
                             wind like dainty young ladies.         become a popular destination for
                                                                    campers and for newlyweds having
                                The park is designed around a       wedding photos taken.
                             Dutch theme to honor the country
                             most famous for tulips. Its floral     Daning Park
                             designs depict features from the       Nickname: Daning Tulip Park
                             Netherlands, such as cows, wind-       Built: 2002
                             mills and clogs.                       Address: 288 Guangzhong
                                                                    Rd W.
                                Another feature is a 2,800-square-  Highlights: One of the big-
                             meter musical score comprising         gest urban parks in Shanghai,
                             140,000 tulips. Red blooms form the    featuring the only white sand
                             musical notes and purple blooms        beach in a city park
                             form the stanza lines, set against     Open hours: 5am-10pm from
                             the backdrop of white blossoms.        May 1 to October 31; 6am-8pm
                                                                    from November 1 to April 31
                                The tulip festival will last        General admission: Free
                             through April 7. Admission is 20
                             yuan (US$3).

                                The park expects to host at least
                             600,000 visitors during the tulip
                             festival. Two parking lots, at the