Being from Canada, a land that is basically empty of people in many places and where nature runs free, it was important for us to find “green” spaces in the city. As we stretched our journeys beyond the first boundaries we set for ourselves once we became “familiar” with our neigbourhood, we found quite a number of small green spaces such as this one near China Dinosaur Park. Of course, this area is a landscaped area. Not much land is left “wild,” especially in the middle of a city. Not all the green spaces in Changzhou would be parks as many newer housing projects and even commercial projects are putting a focus on making sure that nature is a prominent feature as people thrive better in settings that honour nature.
The word for park in Chinese is yuán – 园 . The symbol is also used for garden and orchard. This was one of my first words as we lived in a gated community called Sunshine Garden -YángGuāng HuāYuán – 阳光花园. And as we wander around the compound, we thought the name was well earned. Here is one photo of our small gated community.
