Cao Nuan Park

Cao Nuan Park

Located between Guangzhou Railway Station and Dabei Overpass, the park covers an area of 13,400 square meters. The name is derived from a line in a poem by Tang Dynasty poet Li He: “Grass warms as clouds darken, spring spans ten thousand miles.” However, the layout and architecture of the park are distinctly different from traditional Chinese styles. The design incorporates Western elements, featuring over 8,000 square meters of lush green lawns planted with red and green flowering plants; classical Greek and Roman-style sculptures are placed among geometrically shaped pools, where dandelion-like fountains spray water that glistens like overlapping rainbows in the sunlight, creating a vibrant splash of colors. This harmoniously unites the park’s static and dynamic scenes. The main building in the park is designed to resemble a European castle, with a central music fountain and dance floor in the hall, surrounded by coffee and tea areas where visitors can enjoy music and fountains while sipping drinks or chatting, or take to the dance floor for a spin.

Location & Geography

Cao Nuan Park is Guangzhou’s first Western-style garden and a comprehensive park that combines sightseeing, dancing, and entertainment. Situated next to Guangzhou Railway Station on Huanshi West Road in the city center, the park spans 13,400 square meters and was built in 1985. It was named after a line from a Tang Dynasty poem by Li He: “Grass warms as clouds darken, spring spans ten thousand miles.” The park’s name was inscribed by Ouchu, then Mayor of Guangzhou.

Park Features

Built in 1987, Cao Nuan Park was the first in China to adopt Western landscaping techniques. It features fully open cast-iron lattice fences that integrate the garden’s scenery into the urban landscape. Within its 13,400 square meters, lawns, trees, flower beds, buildings, and fountains create a colorful, fluid, and rhythmically vibrant garden scene. The park’s main structures—including the music fountain, a café with a dance floor, meeting rooms, and flower trellis rest platforms—employ design methods not traditionally found in Chinese gardens. Upon its debut, Cao Nuan Park not only won the hearts of Guangzhou residents but also became the first post-liberation urban garden in China designed using Western methods, causing a significant stir in the national landscaping community.

The park uses vast lawns (over 8,000 square meters) as its base, interspersed with flower bushes and trees, creating an open, elegant, and uniquely charming natural landscape. On this foundation, pathways, flower shelters, spire-roofed houses, and a Spanish-style café are arranged to form a varied architectural layout. The café’s interior and exterior both feature fountains, while outside the courtyard, geometric pools are equipped with disk-shaped water jets. Inside, there is a colorful light-and-music fountain. Spanning 100 square meters, the fountain is the first large-scale modern sound-and-light electronic music fountain installation in downtown Guangzhou.