If your child loves flowers, is creative and likes art, they’ll thoroughly enjoy this annual, unique, child-friendly event in Guangzhou’s Liwan district. The rest of the park also insn’t bad:)

This year marked the 75th anniversary of The Chrysanthemum Exhibition in Cultural Park, Liwan district. I don’t know about you but I’m impressed by how long this event has been held for! Whilst walking around the park, I checked out some photos showing what this event looked like in the ‘olden days’ and wow, what a difference! The essence of the event remained the same though-to display fantastic and insanely creative flower art designs. This was my first visit to Cultural Park, too, so a great opportunity to explore the park itself.

I know what you’re thinking-looks great but it isn’t an event kids would be interested in and that could be the case with younger ones-I certainly wouldn’t bring my 4 year old with me as he’d simply be bored and his whining wouldn’t let me admire anything. Too young to appreciate the details and ingenuity of the projects. However, I honestly believe that older children and even teenagers would be genuinely impressed and interested in the designs, especially if they are artists themselves!

I could go on and on about the incredible level of detail, the amazing ways in which the designs incorporated the local culture and the sheer variety of projects on show as well as the scale of some of them but what you want to know, no doubt, is what makes this event appealing to kids. Well, aside from admiring the often quirky chrysanthemum designs (which, by the way, were created using a huge variety of other flowers and plants as well as other, mostly natural, materials), your kids could also watch free Cantonese Opera performances on the central stage (I know, I know, which kids would want to watch opera, right? Have you seen Cantonese Opera though? With characters’ ‘strange’ make up and intricate costumes? My little one was totally fascinated by performers we watched live at Chikan Ancient Town) and see artists at work at the cultural market. I spent a good while just staring at a lady painting fans and bought some lovely local souvenirs as well as chrysanthemum snacks!

Cultural Park is not one of those parks created with kids in mind, unlike Haizhu Park, which you can read about here. It is located in Liwan, where space is limited, and it was built primarily to provide some green space for the residents living in, often, very cramped and dark houses nearby, it does however have a small playground for toddlers and wide avenues, perfect for running around.

Luckily, Guangzhou Yuexiu Children Park is across the road from the East Gate of this park (junction of Remind South Rd and Yide Rd) so why not visit the Chrysanthemum exhibition or one of many other shows held throughout the year in Cultural Park and then take younger kids to play there:)?

If you get peckish, you’re in luck because right next to the park’s side gate, you’ll find several small eateries and drink places and within a 10min walk you’ll be in noodle paradise! We loved the 2nd floor teahouse, which has its own terrace overlooking the park and the historical buildings just outside.

This was my first experience of a flower show and I am so happy I decided to check it out! The flower art displays were absolutely stunning, the park looked extremely beautiful and even though it was busy (even on a weekday) one could really feel the distinct local culture and special atmosphere. I can confidently recommend this event to anyone with creative and arty kids.

Do you know of any other cultural/art events suitable for kids that take place in Guangzhou? I’m sure there are many!

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Info:

Park opening times: 7.00-19.30 daily

Address: Cultural Park, No.37 Xiti 2nd Road(Xidier Lu), Liwan district, Guangzhou

Getting there: Metro-take Line 6 or Line 8 to Cultural Park station and take exit A, turn right, walk around the corner and you’ll find yourself outside the side entrance. Alternative, you could get off at Yide Lu or Huangsha, also on Line 6 as they are nearby. Huangsha station is also an interchange station with Line 1. If you choose to use a taxi, just search for Cultural Park.

Parking: The park itself hasn’t got a car park and I did not see an overground one nearby so it could be a case of leaving your car at one of the underground car parks in office buildings surrounding the park.

Food: I ate in a nice, small Xinjiangnese restaurant serving a super aromatic lamb soup 5min walk from the park and some street snacks from the stalls located right outside the gate but walk around and you’ll find MANY low-key eateries serving a variety of cuisines, especially a wide variety of noodles. If you like Hong Kongnese food, there is a restaurant serving this type of cuisines right outside the main gate. If you’re after more Western options, Living Mall located above Huangsha metro station nearby has many restaurants and Shamian Island is a 10min walk away.

Facilities: Toilets in the park; not sure about baby changing facilities but if there aren’t any in the toilets, then there should be some in the museum (below).

Area: Thirteen Hongs Museum is located in this park, there are also two other buildings within the park itself, which hold cultural/art exhibitions. The riverside and TIANZI WHARF cruise boat pier are 5min walk away, so are the old Customs Office and the beautiful Post Office-two very important historical attractions.

Age: I would say that this park and specifically this festival is most suitable for kids aged 8+ though of course little ones can also find plenty of space there to roam around.