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April is the kindest month

By Daniel Garst (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-07 08:11

T . S. Eliot's bleak poetic meditation on modernity, The Wasteland, begins by flatly stating "April is the cruelest month." Eliot clearly never visited Beijing during April.

Autumn in general and October in particular are often seen as the best season in China's capital. And fall is indeed a special time in Beijing, when the city is often bathed in a soft and even magical light in early evening.

However, April is my favorite month here. It provides a brief but wonderful window between winter's bitter chill and the stifling heat and humidity of summer.

By contrast, most summer days are cloudy and when the air is still and the air pollution is really bad, living here is like being locked in a sauna and having car exhaust fumes pumped into it.

Autumn does provide welcome relief from all of that. But it also marks the time when the city's plants begin their winter dormancy. April, on the other hand, is a time of renewal and growth. And as the city loses its drab winter grey, I feel re-energized and believe once again that anything is possible.

Beijing has an abundance of very nice parks, both old and relatively new.

During April, these places are bursting with life as the trees and bushes become green with foliage and the flowers bloom. To be sure, the fall boasts its own special brand of color when the leaves on the trees on Fragrant Hills turn flaming red, but in general its hues are more somber than those of April.

Of course the best place to see all of Beijing's spring color in one go is the Botanical Garden.

However, it can be a bit difficult to get to, so I prefer to spend several weekends visiting four of my favorite Beijing parks, each of which boasts its own special April charm.

My first stop is Ritan Park. In early April, it is ablaze with yellow forsythia blooms, scarlet red flowering peach, and white flowering magnolia.

These three different blooms are spectacularly juxtaposed against each other in the park's southeast corner.

This spring color provides an appropriate backdrop to the renewal of human activity in Ritan Park.

The enclosed temple area is filled with ordinary folks playing badminton, Chinese chess and cards.

Others dance or do Taichi around the park's stately arches and open spaces, while a few young athletes - most are pretty young ladies - brave the climbing wall in the northeast corner exercise area.

As the blooms in Ritan Park begin to fade away in Mid-April, Jingshan Park's peony flowers are at their peak.

Every April I make a pilgrimage to Jingshan Park to take close-up photos of China's gorgeous national flower.

The peony flowers come in a variety of colors, ranging from white to deep violet, forming a beautiful tapestry in the park's numerous peony gardens.

Like Ritan Park, Jingshan Park's April charms extend to its human life.

There are always a handful of artists doing watercolor and oil paintings of the peony flowers, while the north side of the park always has lots of people dancing or doing other activities. In addition, it is a great place to do some people-watching.

Jingshan's Coal Hill is one of the best spots for viewing Beijing. On a clear April day, one has a spectacular 360-degree panoramic vista of the city.

Every April, nearby Zhongshan Park is home to a fantastic tulip show, featuring gold, red, white and scarlet colored tulip flowers. These flowers and the park's old cypress pines, pond and rockery, and a small but interesting museum devoted to the father of modern China, Sun Yat-san, make it one of my other annual April destinations.

Yuyuantan Park has the shortest but most spectacular blaze of April spring color. For three weeks, the cherry trees on the north side of the park sprout their cheery blossoms.

And while the blossoms lure crowds to the park, I actually enjoy being among all these people. I especially love observing the numerous visitors, mainly young people, who pitch tents in the park so they can be outside on a beautiful April day after a long winter of indoor confinement.

April's comfortably cool temperatures make it the perfect time for walking in the city.

I like to top off a day in Ritan, Jingshan, Zhongshan, or Yuyuantan with a late afternoon stroll around the Gulou Dajie and Nanluoguxiang, followed by dinner and an early evening drink on an outdoor rooftop terrace.

As I enjoy the sunset over the hutong neighborhoods on an April evening, it is hard to imagine living anywhere else but Beijing.