With the spring equinox (春分 chun fen) just passed, nature is waking up, and trees and flowers across China are blossoming. Qingming Festival, or Tomb Sweeping Day coming up on April 5, is typically spent enjoying spring weather and scenery, as well as tending to the graves of loved ones. Beijing enjoys one of its most beautiful seasons right now, as the parks and avenues fill with cherry, peach, and apple blossoms creating a pastel ambrosia for all the senses. If you’re traveling to Beijing in the next few months, check out these guides on where to see the season’s flowers at their peak.

Flowering blossoms play an important part in Chinese poetry, art, and literature. Many Tang dynasty poems are dedicated to the subject, and fill children’s nursery rhyme books with idyllic quatrains. A common theme in art are the Four Nobles (四君子 si junzi), which are four plants which represent the four seasons: plum blossom (梅 mei) for winter, orchid (兰 lan) for spring, bamboo (竹 zhu) for summer, and chrysanthemum (菊 ju) for autumn. Part myth, part philosophy, many ancient stories often incorporate nature’s treasures as symbols. In Journey to the West, the Monkey King is born in a land called the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, and later steals the Peaches of Immortality from the banquet of the Immortals. In many Taoist sites you’ll find a Peach Blossom Garden (桃花源 tao hua yuan), named after an essay by Tao Yuanming about a utopia showered in peach blossom petals.

Here is a short couplet from a Qing dynasty poem by Chang Hsuen about the legendary Peach Blossom Garden. You can imagine this mystical setting when enjoying spring blossoms, whether in China or your hometown.

In this old, flower-bestrewed land,
at first no path the eye could tell.
For on the streams and on the banks the
red rain of peach flowers fell;
Yet from the purple shadowed mountains
which screened this favored land
Flowed forth the Peach-Fount river along
its bed of silver sand

from “Dwellers in the Peach Stream Valley”
Chinese Poems, public domain.

The Roman aqueducts, the London Underground, Shanghai’s skyline. CNN Money has named Shanghai’s skyscrapers as one of the greatest urban projects of all time.

From the futuristic Oriental Pearl Tower, to the trio of skyscrapers racing into the skies over Lujiazui, to the inventive forms popping up on both sides of the Huangpu River, these structures are unlike anything else you’ve seen on this earth. China is growing like no other society in world history, and Shanghai is leading the charge. One of the greatest sights of all time, and a must-see while this is happening during your lifetime. Read more and plan your trip with China Tea Leaves.

red maple leaves at hangzhou’s west lake

Autumn is settling in to China’s cities and countryside, a perfect time for travel throughout the country with mild weather, and nature quietly illuminating the mountains and valleys. Classical poems and song extoll the beauty of China’s autumn. A poem (山行 Mountain Travel) from the eighth century of the Tang dynasty by Du Mu (杜牧) echoes our perennial love of an autumn scene.

远上寒山石径斜
白云生处有人家
停车坐爱枫林晚
霜叶红于二月花

Long ascent up Cold Mountain’s rising stone road
White clouds harbor the people’s homes
I stop the cart, pause to love the maple wood evening
The frosted leaves are redder than February blooms

Another phrase briefly says: 一叶知秋 One falling leaf signals the coming of autumn. For us in southern Shenzhen, the one falling leaf is about all we get of autumn. (一落叶就是深圳的秋天) If you miss the autumn colors like me, or are planning a trip to China this season, here are some places throughout the Middle Kingdom where you will be rewarded with the reds and yellows of an ancient poem.

 yellow leaves surrounding mutianyu great wall

From now until early December, cool weather and autumn foliage will be cascading down through the Middle Kingdom. Beijing’s autumn (best from the last week of October to mid-November) is in full color right now, with lanes aglow in golden ginkgo, and mountains from the Great Wall to Fragrant Hill covered in smoky reds. Some of the best places to see the ginkgoes (银杏 yin xing) are Diaoyutai Boulevard, Peking University, Temple of the Earth, Sanlitun, and Tsinghua University.

Qingdao’s maples are nearing their peak, and Laoshan on the rocky coast will soon be ablaze in crimson leaves. Shanghai and Hangzhou’s peak arrive a bit later starting in late November, lasting into December. Other ideas for seeing leaves throughout China are here and here. Even southern Guangzhou offers Shimen Park, known as a local Fragrant Hill which turns red from October to January. Read more about these places throughout the year in China Tea Leaves for the iPad and Mac.

The central Chinese city of Xi’an is ringed by the dusty tombs of emperors and the former palace gardens of the ancient Tang capital Chang’an. But deep in its heart lies the Great Mosque (清真寺 qing zhen si), a place of worship and a garden of contemplation which has been in existence for over one thousand years.

Its buildings and courtyards blend Chinese architecture with Islamic prayers, calligraphy, and garden design. Walk among monuments and stone inscriptions of Muslim prayers. Fountains and greenery echo the Islamic idea of paradise as a garden. A stone archway bears a tablet which reads 天监在兹 (tian jian zai zi), which means Heaven truly is here.

As you exit the mosque back into the autumn evening, the call to prayer rings out from the many minarets of the Muslim quarter. The season’s baskets fill the market streets with walnuts, pomegranates and dates, open courtyards are spread with drying ears of corn, and the air is fragrant with nuts and spices roasting. Download China Tea Leaves 西安 Xi’an to find out how to find the Great Mosque and the flavours of this ancient capital of China.

Shanghai, today the biggest city in the world, home to the tallest buildings in China, where flashy fashion statements of the skyline and sidewalk overwhelm you at every turn. And yet, in the middle of it all, is a diminutive garden, built by a humble son for his aging father.  And this garden, Yuyuan (豫园), the Garden of Contentment, is one of the most famous sights in Shanghai.

Enter through a round moon gate from the commercial streets surrounding the garden, and immediately feel transported to another world. Stones and foliage line hills and crevices in a miniature landscape. An undulating wall capped by a scaly dragon moves through the space. A pavilion across a pool is designed for taking in the moon and the “floating cup” game loved by the poets of yore, challenging one another to drink a bit of wine and compose a poem on the spot. Other pavilions were set up for the purpose of scholarly study, music and opera performances, or to frame the scenery and the many splendidly shaped rocks. Of all the artistic activity, perhaps your favorite pastime may be passing through the delicate arcades and discovering each new view of the garden as you go.

Autumn shades Shanghai crisp and colorful, a perfect time to get lost in a Chinese garden. Download China Tea Leaves 上海 Shanghai to find out more about the Yuyuan Garden, and plan an autumn trip to the wonderful parks and gardens of Shanghai.

The public parks of China are one of the great treasures of its cities, and a joy to discover for the museum and templed-out traveler. Many parks work as a reserve of nature within the city, have historical significance, and are lively social centers for the city’s residents. From early morning until past dusk, you can find dancercize classes, ad hoc choirs, erhu and flute players, tai chi masters. Everyone is drawn to the park, but there is always room for the crowds as well as a place for a quiet moment to one’s self.

One great park lies on the banks of Chengdu’s Brocade River at the Wangjianglou Park (望江楼公园), or River Viewing Pavilion Park. Chengdu’s streets are intertwined like a Chinese knot crisscrossing several rivers, and Wangjianglou Park sits at a bend of the most major river. The park features a dense bamboo grove, a shady complex of halls dedicated to Tang poetess Xue Tao, a teahouse overlooking the Brocade River, and majiang tables as far as the eye can see. Vendors sell hand blown sugar candies, and young ladies embroider tapestries beneath the rustling bamboo. Besides the paid museum halls of Xue Tao, the rest of the park is open to the public, and an amazing way to experience local and ancient culture for free.

Download China Tea Leaves 成都 Chengdu to read more about life in Chengdu and the Wangjianglou Park.

Once I thought learning was a multifold experience and I would not refuse to travel [even] ten thousand Li to be able to question wise men and visit celebrated countries. But how long is a man’s life? It is certain that many years are needed to acquire a complete science, based on a vast number of observations: and that’s where one becomes old without the time to make use of this science. Is this not a painful thing?

And this is why I put great store by [geographical] maps and history: history for fixing [these observations], and maps for handing them on [to future generations].

Respectfully written by the European Matteo Ricci on 17 August, 1602

inscription on 1602 Geographical map by Matteo Ricci, translation by Pasquale M. d’Elia

map of hangzhou’s west lake

When you’re traveling, and find yourself somewhere unfamiliar, perhaps mixed up inside the depths of a train station or on the rainy curb of a darkening street, is there any sight more welcome than a map? A map is orientation, information, history of a place, and art. It knows that you might be lost, and how to guide you where you want to go.

The wistful quote above from Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci turned up while researching his time in Beijing. In the late 16th century, he came from Italy to Macau as a Catholic missionary, and created the first map of the world to unite European discoveries with East Asian cartography. His studies and life in China are a touchstone for many expats living in the Middle Kingdom. In his words above reverberate the reasons why maps are so important to travelers and anyone studying the cultures of the world. This is why each map inside China Tea Leaves is designed to be clear, helpful, and beautiful. China Tea Leaves lets you take maps of your destination with you on your iPad, and is an elegant, interactive experience that responds to your finger tap.

Download a China Tea Leaves guide for your next China trip and discover a new way of getting around China’s amazing places.