Saturday, October 11, 2014

Best Running Routes and Locations in Wuhan


    Wuhan, my hometown, is a city with many beautiful city parks and green spaces that could be great destinations for runners. Here I am writing to introduce and recommend several ones that I have been to.

1. Liyuan Park, East Lake Scenic Area
    East Lake is a large lake within the city of Wuhan, and one of the largest urban lake in China. And Liyuan Park is a large urban park on the west side of the lake. This park features long and meandering lakeshores lines with gorgeous views of East Lake. For runners specifically, one of the most unique features of the park is the pedestrian/runner road that connects multiple peninsulas of the lakes. Runners can enjoy the gorgeous scenes of traditional Chinese-style pavilions along the route. Another great characteristic that is great for runners is the fabulous planting design within the park. The most notable ones include sweet osmanthus and pear flower. The former blossoms in early fall while the latter one in spring, providing both shade and scenes for runners.

2. Moon Lake Park, Hanyang District
    Moon Lake is another lake within the city limit of Wuhan. Though much smaller than East Lake Scenic Area, Moon Lake Park has its own unique features to offer to runners. Firstly, the running routes around the park provides runners with fantastic lake view from the embankment. Different from East Lake, Moon Lake is smaller but also more dedicated with features of willows and red woods. Secondly, the running route around Moon Lake Park passed by the Qintai Grand Theatre. Locating in a historic site, Qintai Grand Theatre is a magnificent landscape building in Wuhan. While running around the park, it would be very pleasant to enjoy the views of this building from different angles.

3. Wuhan University Campus
    The last destination for runners is Wuhan University Campus. Wuhan University has been widely considered to possess one of the most beautiful campuses in China, featuring with the scenic Luojia Hill and the beautiful East Lake. The campus is also famous for its old stylish buildings, most of which were designed by an American architect, F. H. Kales. In his design of the buildings of Wuhan University Campus, Kale successfully integrated traditional Chinese style into modern architecture and created a attractive harmony between the buildings and the surrounding environment. The recommended route provides views of all these mentioned features, including the woody hill of the campus, the gorgeous built environment, and the lake view boulevard alongside East Lake on the northeast of the campus. In addition, the campus is a hilly so it also adds some fun as well as challenges for runners.
  

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