Ancient Ginkgo Tree in Shanghai Jingnan Park

Posted on 2022-01-23 10:54. Mr. Zhang, a fellow traveler living in Shanghai, knowing my habit of cyc[...]

Posted on 2022-01-23 10:54. Mr. Zhang, a fellow traveler living in Shanghai, knowing my habit of cycling around Shanghai, sent a WeChat message recommending me to visit the ancient ginkgo tree in Jingnan Park. Upon researching online, I found it was only 5 kilometers from my home. I set out on my bicycle at 9:35 AM on December 11, 2021, in high spirits to view the ancient ginkgo. The day started sunny and turned cloudy. I picked up a shared bicycle at the entrance, and under the shining sun, I rode north along Yanggao South Road, turned to Yanggaozhong Road, then to Minsheng Road, and finally Yu Mountain Road. I arrived at Jingnan Park at 10:20 AM to find dozens of senior fitness teams dressed in red, holding red and blue flags for a photo session. Shanghai Jingnan Park, established in December 2001, is located on the south side of Yu Mountain Road, covering an area of 22,000 square meters. The park is themed around the protection of ancient and famous trees (the ancient ginkgo tree), and is planted with camphor, magnolia, osmanthus, ginkgo, red maple, and other trees, integrating with the surrounding environment as a small street park. As I walked around the park, I heard elderly ladies singing in the pavilions, and saw children’s playgrounds with equipment, bustling with many children on a Saturday, and a small sandy area. Under the sunlight, the elderly were playing cards, and there were artificial hills, lawns, flower beds, with people coming and going, making it a very popular park. Duration: 1 day. Time: November. Cost per person: 10 yuan. Who with: Spouse.The thousand-year-old ginkgo tree, surrounded by two layers of protective railings and a water channel, allowed only distant admiration, not close interaction. From afar, I paid my respects. The park, located on the east-west Yu Mountain Road, had the ginkgo tree by the roadside, with six-story residential buildings behind it. A few turtles in the pond attracted children’s attention.

Around the ginkgo tree, there is a small square where the elderly engage in their own activities. The ladies dance to music, stretching their limbs, while the men gather to chat, with the loudest ones broadcasting local news. A line of water fir forest was very spectacular, and I couldn’t resist taking a group photo with it.

I wanted to borrow a child’s skipping rope as a prop. “Little friend, can I borrow your rope?” I asked a little boy about the same age as my nephew. He thought for a moment and said, “Okay, but you can’t break it.” The innocent words of children are really amusing. I promised not to break it and borrowed his skipping rope to take a ‘fir tree jump’ photo. The person is still the same, the face is still the same, no matter how agile I am, I can’t jump out of any new tricks, so I had to find props to add new elements to make it feel fresh and lively.

At 10:55, I bid farewell to the ancient ginkgo and cycled home. Online, there is a ranking of the top ten ancient ginkgo trees in Shanghai in 2021. The first place, the ‘Ginkgo King’ in Jiading, dates back to the Tang Dynasty, 1200 years old, and the ancient ginkgo in Jingnan Park ranks third.On December 11, 2021, at 14:57, I posted on WeChat and received a total of 151 likes and 9 comments. Here are the comments I received:

1. Li: “Jump happily every day, fitness and happiness.”
2. Liu: “Three feet three from the sky.”
3. He: “The yellow girl under the sequoia is really beautiful.”
4. Wang: “Looking for beauty, enjoying beauty, happy Saturday.”