Shanghai Daily news

Jiangpu Park, located at No. 78 Jiangpu Street, Yangpu District, has been rapidly gaining popularity among city dwellers with some spare time.
The 38.5-hectare park is the center piece of the thriving industrial district of Yangpu. The construction of the park was funded by a 630 million yuan (US$77.78 million) donation from the Yangpu government. The park was under construction from June 2004 to March of this year and was opened to the public on March 28 and remains free of charge.
"Yangpu District is not the old urban fringe anymore, it is striving to become modern. We planed to provide the residents (of Yangpu) with a more agreeable place to relax and enhance their living standards,"one of the district officials said.
The park, designed to emphasize natural harmony, has added to the changing face and modernization of the once impoverished, uptown Shanghai.
The park, with a 25,887-square-meter green belt, contains 8,000 different kinds of flowers and is canopied by a number of different trees,including pomegranates, cymbidiums and camphors. Various sporting facilities, such as football fields, are also available in the park.
The parks location makes it ideal for a full day of entertainment. The Shanghai Art Gallery is within walking distance and with one of the best collections of contemporary art in Shanghai, it should definitely not be missed.
Another thing that must be seen by visitors to the park is the huge fountain in the center of the public square. The fountain covers 1,036 square meters and remains open and running during holidays and weekends.
The design and location of the park have ensured future success and local officials are now expecting millions of guests to visit the attractive, and sustainable park every year.
To ensure a level of safety in the large park, authorities have organized a 30-person service team, comprised of two police officers and a number of volunteers, to patrol the park during opening hours.
Designers of the park have also gone to great lengths to make the park completely accessible for the handicapped.
"The park is a good place for us to enjoy the weekends and holidays. I thought it would be difficult for me to visit here. But after I came I found that I can go anywhere, even with my wheelchair. The design here is very considerate," said a handicapped man named Jiang, who lived near the park.
At almost any time of day, the pace of life here feels a few beats slower than in the city around it. Visitors to the park in the early morning are treated to the sight of elderly men and women practicing tai chi on the grass. This is just another soothing experience in this natural oasis within Shanghai.