1. August 2018. I was walking to the city centre on my way back from Jinhua Ham Museum when I happened upon this landscaped park. I was about to hail a taxi to my hotel but figured what the heck and decided to nip in, get some shots and add another My 5 to my Jinhua menu page. The park is named after its huge collection (over 204 species) of Camellia flowering plants.

2. August 2018. Beautifully kept with meticulously labeled plants, bushes and flowerbeds, the park offers a number of stone paths that wind around this giant lake. As is often the case with Chinese city parks the pagoda is purely decorative and can’t be climbed. Which is a pity, as the resulting views would have been lovely.

3. August The park boasts a number of waterside pavilions that are popular spots for locals to sit and drink tea, listen to music or simply take a nap. It was clear to me that very few westerners pass through here, as this group of gossiping women got very excited when I walked by and called me over to find who I was and where I was from. We didn’t get very far, what with my limited Chinese, but we managed to bumble through some standard introductions and they were happy, albeit a little shy, to pose for this photograph.

4. August 2018. “Foreigner!!!!”squealed the little boy as I approached this picnicking family via the pretty stepping-stones. It was such a lovely spot and I would have rested there a little longer had all four of them not spent the entire time staring and pointing at me from close range.

5. August 2018. Camellia Culture Park is fairly compact and you can do a full leisurely loop in about forty-five minutes. It’s free to enter and open daily from 06:30-18:00. The park is an ideal accompaniment to nearby Jinhua Ham Museum.

For more on my adventures in this largely unknown city check out my other 5s on Jinhua.

Interested in reading more about China? Why not click through my stacks of articles from all around the country.