Sweet smell of osmanthus pervades Shanghai as flower blooms
Sweet-scented osmanthus at Zuibaichi Park in suburban Songjiang District.
The intoxicating fragrance of sweet-scented osmanthus is lingering in the air with the flower now in full bloom across the city.
If the weather continues to be sunny, the sweet-scented osmanthus season will last until the end of this month, experts said.
Shanghai has four major sweet-scented osmanthus varieties, and they are all blooming now, making it the best time to enjoy their fragrance.
Guilin Park, a Jiangnan-style classic garden built in 1931, in Xuhui District, is known for its dense gathering of more than 1,000 osmanthus trees. The park, shut down for nearly one year for repairs, reopened recently.
It is one of the most famous spots in the city to appreciate the flower.
At Shanghai Botanical Garden, also in Xuhui, there are more than 40 sub-varieties of sweet-scented osmanthus, including several old trees dating back 40 to 50 years.
The flowering period will last more than 15 days at the garden.
Sweet-scented osmanthus at Shanghai Botanical Garden in Xuhui District.
Century Park in the Pudong New Area boasts nearly 3,200 sweet-scented osmanthus trees, and the best appreciation time for some varieties is next week.
Gucheng Park in Huangpu District is home to some 170 sweet-scented osmanthus trees, the most in Shanghai's downtown parks.
Gucun Park in suburban Baoshan District has about 10,000 sweet-scented osmanthus trees, while sweet-scented osmanthus trees are lined along paths inside Xujiahui Park in Xuhui.
"The long summer this year postponed the flowering of sweet-scented osmanthus," Wang Yuqin, a botanist at Shanghai Botanical Garden, explained.
Sweet-scented osmanthus usually starts flowering between late August and early September in the city.
However, the scorching temperatures this year delayed their flowering, with the earliest varieties beginning to blossom only in late September, according to Wang.
Daning Park, Zhongshan Park, Shanghai Daguanyuan (Grandview Garden), Gongqing Forest Park, and Jing'an Sculpture Park also have sweet-scented osmanthus trees.
Sweet-scented osmanthus at Guilin Park in Shanghai's Xuhui District.
Spots to see sweet-scented osmanthus trees in Shanghai:
1. Shanghai Botanical Garden
2. Gucun Park
3. Guilin Park
4. Hengshan Park
5. Xujiahui Park
6. Zuibaichi Park
7. Zhongshan Park
8. Gongqing Forest Park
9. Daning Park
10. Jing'an Sculpture Park
11. Changfeng Park
12. Jinqiao Park
13. Shanghai Daguanyuan (Grandview Garden)
14. Xinzhuang Park
15. Wusong Paotaiwan National Wetland Park
16. Minhang Sports Park
17. Ganquan Park
Sweet-scented osmanthus at Shanghai Botanical Garden in Xuhui District.
A visitor takes photos at Guilin Park.
A sweet-scented osmanthus tree at Guilin Park.
