A First Look at Jiangsu Garden Expo Park: The Underwater Botanical Garden in the Sunshine

Getting around: self-driving

Travel time: April 2022

Sights: Jiangsu Garden Expo Park

Address: Near the northeast intersection of Husheng Road and Hufa Road, Jiangning District, Nanjing

The Garden Expo Park is far too vast to explore all at once. Luckily we have an annual pass, giving us the freedom to come and go as we please throughout the year. Each visit we pick just one area, or even one spot, and take our time. Last October we came to Cloud Pool Dream Valley in the afternoon, and by the time we strolled our way to the Underwater Botanical Garden, night had fallen and the lights were dazzling. The architecture, water curtain, plants and lighting all shimmered together in beguiling brilliance. Ever since, I’ve wanted to see the Underwater Botanical Garden by day. Half a year slipped by. Though we’ve returned to the park in between, we never made it back to this area. Today, finally, I resisted all other temptations and headed straight for the Underwater Botanical Garden.

We parked at the Beianmen Parking Lot but didn’t enter through Beianmen Gate. Instead we used an entrance near the Yuanbo Li area. A huge lawn stretches out, with the white curvilinear building on its eastern side housing the visitor centre at Beianmen. The cable car starts from those industrial relic concrete pillars.

Below the mountains, on the other side of the lawn, lies the open-style railway station.

The towering trees, soaring into the sky, feel even more majestic in this enormous park.

Rolling hills encircle the park, rising and falling. The spectacular mountain ridges layer one after another, ring after ring, each level packed with intriguing sights that pull you closer. From afar you can already spot a building on the mid-slope like a giant eye — it’s a viewing platform, and its striking shape made me want to get up close immediately.

Apart from the big lawn on the left, another expansive green lawn spreads beneath the mountains on the right. The trees on it are diverse, each with its own shape.

What appears to be casual planting is in fact carefully planned. Beneath a few sculptural trees spread low yellow shrubs. Among the predominantly green lawn appears a warming patch of yellow, brilliantly bright — the perfect backdrop for a portrait, pure and vivid.

Beside the yellow “carpet” is an expanse of red flowers.

Beneath the green hills, on the green lawns, different vegetation and colours weave beautiful pictures.

In April, pink azaleas bloom in abundance beside the railway track.

I can’t help but marvel at the Garden Expo Park’s beauty. Not long ago in March, peach and cherry blossoms were in full glory, and now in April, it’s a new act, just as lively.

Cross the tracks and you reach the park’s Floating Stone Underground Palace. A circular structure with a metal sculpture at its centre, a waterfall cascading from the floating stone down into a dark cavity — it feels like entering another world. A hopeful little deer gazes into the distance atop the mountain.

We passed through a tunnel into the underground palace, then took an elevator on the other side further up.

Looking back from the elevator, beneath us was the tunnel of time, the Floating Stone Underground Palace, the park road leading to Beianmen, and in the distance the viaduct carrying high-speed trains.

At that moment, a small train was slowly pulling out of the station. Colourful shuttle buses and coaches rolled along the park roads. The vast park offers many means of transport and ways to explore.

From this high vantage point, you also see the ring of mountains cradling the park. The valleys, lowlands and varied terrain within that embrace have all been skilfully used by the designers. Here you can also clearly perceive the layered ridges of the park and how the builders enriched each level.

We took in the view from the viewing platform. The scene was utterly refreshing. The grey road winding along the mountain was the very road we had just travelled. The pale road linked directly to the Floating Stone Underground Palace leads straight to Beianmen. From on high, you appreciate how meticulous and unified the park’s planning is. Different roads combine to enhance the beauty while making it convenient and user-friendly for visitors.

In the area east of the Floating Stone Underground Palace, you can see the rail train hugging the mountain slope, a narrow-gauge track skimming the water’s edge by a pond, bus lanes, footpaths, mountain-climbing escalators, tunnels cutting through the hills… All manner of functional paths are laid out in an orderly yet artistic way across this land, magically creating a three-dimensional network of land, water and air routes.

After a few sections of mountain escalator, we reached halfway up.

A slanted viewing platform seemed to float directly in the air. The platform was far from empty; flowerbeds of various shapes were scattered across it.

The flowerbeds were a vibrant medley of different blossoms, brimming with life.

Purple sage swayed gently.

To the south of the path lay a huge, narrow, deep pit. Inside, “giant trees” made of acrylic panels and stainless steel supported a sheet of clear water — this was our destination today, the Underwater Botanical Garden.

Actually, beautiful plants are everywhere in the Garden Expo Park, with flowers and greenery constantly changing through the seasons.

Patches of Shasta daisies alongside the rock wall and black steel handrails brought a touch of fresh, delicate charm to the industrial toughness.

Three circular buildings feature reflective exterior walls. The reflective surfaces create a picture-within-a-picture effect; I had great fun taking some creative selfies here.

The reflective material combined with the unique architectural form is quite magical. This magical building now houses a Flower Chef restaurant. Since we’d visited it last time, we didn’t go inside this time and instead went straight to the plants of the botanical garden.

We descended stairs into the bottom of the pit — the interior of the garden. At the bottom, dozens of “giant trees” hold up transparent acrylic panels. The stainless-steel acrylic structures are like lotus leaves supporting a canopy of sky.

Beneath these “giant trees” hides a vibrant Underwater Botanical Garden.

From this angle, you can clearly see the original appearance of the quarry pit.

Plants with different growing requirements have been arranged according to the pit’s natural drop, creating a unique three-dimensional botanical spectacle within the quarry.

The terrain inside the garden is undulating, with a stream gurgling along. Many plants have been introduced, a dazzling array of flowers and herbs whose names I don’t know. I didn’t bother to identify them one by one; I just drank in the spreading greenery, a treat for the eyes and soul.

Apart from Flower Chef, the botanical garden also has an Orchid Coffee theme hall. We stepped into this café to rest our feet.

The café is quite spacious, a long rectangle, and besides one staff member, we were the only ones there.

A cosy seating area — curling up on a sofa like this is wonderfully comfortable.

A long counter and a long display shelf.

In one corner, a creative gift shop.

We ordered a coffee, but were disappointed when it arrived in a paper cup. Instantly, all refinement vanished. A beautiful coffee cup is an essential part of a coffee’s quality.

Though the coffee left me feeling a bit let down, it didn’t spoil my mood. As soon as I stepped into this lovely botanical garden, the sun was brilliant.

A path of red blossoms and green plants.

Verbena with tiny purple flowers.

April is the azalea’s favourite time, and the large swathes of azalea are the season’s most intense colours. Looking at this, you understand perfectly why azalea is also called “mountain-turning red”. The clusters of petals look like flaming clouds fallen into the hills.

This red brightened my complexion, too.

Stately yellow flag irises.

Pink water lilies had quietly begun to bloom in April, though a little lonely.

And here is the quarry rock wall that cradles the Underwater Botanical Garden. The natural cliff face was cleverly used by the designers, chopped into the mountain to create a sunken valley. The pool bed gathers over 900 species of plants. The entire bed is lush and verdant, like an “undersea forest”. Finally, I had admired the botanical garden in sunlight, and I left fully contented.