Wang Chengkai, Class 8, Senior 1, Shenzhen Foreign Languages School Shenzhen, the city we live in, is a famous garden city. However, do you know how many parks it has? 100? 300? Or 500? No, the answer is 1,000! Recently, the city has officially proclaimed itself as a “city of one thousand parks.” Residents here will find a park for basically every 1,000 meters they walk. Many of them are small yet delicate, beautiful street parks close to residential areas, convenient for residents to take a walk and enjoy some leisure time. Thus, they are called “pocket parks” by the residents. The largest park in Shenzhen is the Dapeng Peninsula National Geopark, a national park which includes the central and southern parts of Dapeng Peninsula. With a long coastline and seven peaks, it boasts beautiful scenery and was once called the most beautiful seaside scenic spot in China. Every year, it attracts many tourists from all over the country to hike there. Wutong National Forest Park, the highest park in Shenzhen, is also a national park. Wutong Mountain’s main peak is 943 meters high, which makes it the highest peak in Shenzhen. The park is lush with various plants and animals. For many travelers, viewing the clouds and mists around the mountains on the top of the Wutong Mountain is a favorite activity. Many people also climb to the top just to enjoy watching the sunrise. Another famous park in Shenzhen is the Lianhua Hill Park. At the top of the hill, there is a statue of Deng Xiaoping, the former Chinese leader and chief architect of China’s reform and opening up. Every day, many people come to pay tribute to the former leader. While standing atop the hill, you can see the whole of Shenzhen’s central area, which is ultra modern with many skyscrapers. As Shenzhen is a coastal city, many parks are by the seaside, and Shenzhen Bay Park is one of them. The park is built around the beautiful Shenzhen Bay. Boasting a seaside corridor extending longer than 10 kilometers, it is the best place for cycling. But please note that it is a two-hour ride, which means it can be tiring on top of enjoyment. Downtown in Shenzhen, there is a park popular among the netizens — Xiangmi Park. What makes it special is a wedding hall, the green library and the sports center among the flowers and trees. People can hold weddings, read books and exercise in the park. Also, many people come here to take photos and post them on their WeChat Moments and Weibo, or micro blogs. In addition to the sea, there are many rivers in Shenzhen. Dashahe Park is by the river of the same name. Dashahe River was previously a very dirty and smelly river, but was treated, and now runs clear. With beautiful flowers and trees planted around, it has become a popular park and a competition site for boat crews. Flowers are the protagonists of parks. In Shenzhen’s Guangming District, there is a park featuring beautiful flowers — the Huahai Scenic Area of Guangming Town. During the Spring Festival holiday every year, colorful flowers bloom into an ocean of blossoms. There are many other parks in Shenzhen, each of them distinct. But these parks all share flowering plants and beautiful scenery. Like pearls scattered around the city, each has a beauty worth searching for. | 