South China Botanical Garden

This guide to the South China Botanical Garden in Guangzhou centers on Longdong Lake, ringed by two peninsulas planted as opposites: an evergreen Palm Garden and a Relic Garden that sheds its leaves each year despite the mild southern climate. It traces the garden back to 1929, when botanist Chen Huanyong opened it as a teaching collection for Sun Yat-sen University. Stand at the water's edge on a still day to see the shoreline trees mirrored twice over.