Longshouyang — the field park

A park made of fields

Longshouyang means roughly “Dragon and Longevity Fields” and refers to a wide plain between Jiaji and the village of Tayang. Since 2014 part of it has been developed as a “National Agricultural Park”, which locals simply call the ten-thousand-mu field park — a mu is a Chinese unit of area of about 670 square metres.

It isn't a park in the European sense with lawns and flower beds. These are real fields growing rice, vegetables, strawberries and lotus, plus fish ponds and orchid and vegetable greenhouses. Smooth, narrow paths run between them, to explore on foot or by bike.

Tear nothing down, cut nothing down

Behind the park is a principle the city of Qionghai likes to quote: don't build on fields, don't cut down trees, don't demolish houses. Instead of clearing the villages for a new development, paths, bridges and squares were laid out between the fields. The farmers keep working their land, and a cooperative runs guesthouses, food stalls and the bike hire.

According to Chinese reports, incomes in some of the park's villages have almost doubled since then. In 2014 the rice fields were named one of “China's most beautiful farming landscapes”, and Lidu village on the edge of the park counts among the island's most beautiful villages.

By bike through the fields

Bikes can be hired at the main entrance and side entrances, usually for 20 to 30 yuan. Two signposted routes run through the park: a yellow one, the “Dragon's Road”, and a red one, the “Path of Longevity”. Both are flat and easy even for inexperienced riders.

On the way you pass a square for dragon-boat races, a small square with Confucian motifs, lotus ponds and villages with old stone houses. Come in spring and you'll see large flower fields; in November the rice fields are green or being harvested.

An afternoon in the neighbourhood

Longshouyang combines well with two places nearby. A few minutes away is the Red Detachment of Women memorial park, also free — first the history, then the fields. And if you want to be active in the morning, climb Baishiling, the “White Stone Mountain” near Guantang, beforehand, with a view over this very plain.

Two to three hours are enough for the park itself. By bike you can cover most of it in that time without hurrying. If you'd rather walk, stay in the core area by the main entrance, where the paths are densest.

The golden hour

Longshouyang is most beautiful in the late afternoon. The light falls low across the fields, the coconut palms cast long shadows and herons rise over the ponds. In November the golden hour begins around 16:45; after that it gets dark quickly.

To round off, dinner at one of the farm restaurants on the edge of the fields is worthwhile — simple, cheap and often with vegetables and fish straight from the park.