“HongShuLin GongYuan”， the Mangrove Reserve， is a special place. It is not only an urban park， but a national park， the smallest national park of China. It lies in a bay across from HongKong， where at the other side there also is a mangrove reserve. Thousands
A grandfather is playing Go with his grandson at the fifth pond of the Four Lakes Park， right in the back that huge bamboo in which a large flock of red-whiskered bulbuls is screaming and spending the night.
Male red-whiskered bulbul with minor The whizzy red-whiskered bulbuls are all the time in motion and make a hell of a noise.
A butterfly Butterfly， flying
– and in spring and autumn， when the migrating birds are passing by， tens of thousands – of birds are living and resting here. Here I have seen the only fish eagle I ever found in China moving above my head， most interestingly toward the inland. Also I have seen there the only spoonbills ever， and I did so more than once. These are black-faced spoonbills， a very rare breed， very endangered and occurring only on East Asian coasts. Just a little more than 2，000 individuals are left， spread over at least eight separate populations.
The many herons， avocets and wading birds are wonderful to watch， especially at low tide when the tidal flats are laid bare.
A really unusual feature is the botanical garden (“XianHu ZhiWu Yuan”仙湖植物园). I visit it at least once a year， in contrast to the parks of which some are within walking distance， other are easily accessible by bike or bus. It is farther away and quite large， extending across 590 hectares. Therefore， I take almost every time a whole day off for a visit， and I can only do that very rarely.
The botanical garden is located in a hilly area of ShenZhen， which includes the highest hill (“WuTong”) of the city area. The park was planned and created
A species of swallowtails. Young people are posing for photos with their friends at the botanical garden at Fairy-Tale Lake.
Countless “I was here” pictures are made at a memorial for Deng XiaoPing. He initiated and accelerated the economic reforms， for which he is named father of the boom city of ShenZhen， and he himself planted this tree.
Which one of the four beauties is the most beautiful？
simultaneously with the city itself， the pristine nature has been incorporated as much as possible. It covers fifteen different sections， divided by type of plant. This is not man-made display garden with labels on each plant， but a territory developed out of what was already there and a large area where serious botanical research and conservation are performed， particularly in terms of endemic plants， which are those that occur only in southern China. Thousands of species of trees， shrubs and flowers are growing， so to speak， all by themselves. It is breathtaking.
I am astonished again and again that this large protected area attracts ordinary people， including especially those who have no interest in “nature”， but just want to relax， meet， have fun – school classes， student gatherings， companies， families， youth organisations， individuals and groups of friends.
In the centre of this park there is Fairy-Tale Lake， “Xian Hu”. Although this is indeed a botanical garden， simple “pleasures” are offered， too – you can go pedal boating
Two visitors to the Botanical Gardens go fishing Two youths harvesting mangoes in the trees of on Lake Fairy-Tale. the HongShuLin Park.
In the Four Lakes Park chess and much more is played like everywhere else.
This older gentleman in the lychee park watches a music video playing on his laptop， sings to it with microphone and speaker， to his left are notes in case that he does not know how to go on， and it does not bother him that he has no listeners， they are standing 20 metres behind him and listening to another， larger orchestra elsewhere， no one seems to be disturbed by the musical interference.
on the lake and having fun， and lots of young people use it extensively for racing and sprinkling each other with water. The garden’s purpose is to enhance understanding of nature and the aims of its conservation. The many herons and other birds that live here do not mind that the many young people here do not pay attention to them but just photograph each other and enjoy endless fun. When writing， I notice that all these people are often picnicking on a central meadow， but although it is not really prohibited no one will drink beer or other alcoholic beverages， never I have seen drunk people here， which indeed would not be surprising with groups of youths， corporate outings and the like， but here it does not appear to exist. Yet there are no other guards or supervisors visible who would ban anything.
The range of southern Chinese and southern Asian plants also includes more than seventy palm species and more than sixty bamboo species. Some palms I am able to
A thrush-like bird in the lychee park