The pockets of greenery dotted in and around Shanghai are perfect for escaping the intense urban chaos. China’s second-largest municipal botanical garden, the Shanghai Botanical Garden, contains greenhouse displays and several gardens and is particularly noted for its collection of miniaturised bonsai plants (penjing). Other plants on show include orchids, roses and the spring-flowering white magnolia, Shanghai’s official city flower. In Xuhui district lies Guilin Park, a small, traditional Chinese garden restored in 1957 after it was destroyed by the Japanese 20 years earlier. The park is best visited in autumn when the fragrant scent of its 1,000-plus osmanthus trees fills the air. In the heart of downtown, People’s Park provides a welcome sanctuary with floral gardens and a lotus-filled pond. North-east of the city centre, bordering the Huangpu River, Gongqing Forest Park is Shanghai’s second-largest park and only forested environment. Intensive agriculture has resulted in little natural diversity of the lower Yangtze region, although wild plants can be found along water courses, around rural villages and in hilly areas.