Guandu Flower Update: Warm Little Suns on the Hills, Enjoy Three Flower Seas in One Visit

 

Text and Photos byMiss Wenwen and Her Little Ones

December 6 — Stunning Update from the Guandu Flower Sea Festival: The Sunflower Sea Has Arrived!! Yellow Cosmos Are Also Blooming Gradually. Now You Can Admire Three Flower Seas at Once!!

Guandu Flower Sea Festival – Phase Two Estimated Bloom Periods

Angel’s Trumpet Flower | Oct 1, 2017 – Dec 15, 2017
Yellow Cosmos | Oct 27, 2017 – Dec 15, 2017
Sunflowers | Nov 12, 2017 – Dec 15, 2017

Although the sunflowers aren’t all in full bloom yet, and they’re not the towering variety you might imagine, their presence on the chilly winter hills—like a field of little suns—is heartwarming. The golden sea of sunflowers brings back feelings of sunshine and vitality, instantly lifting your mood.

The yellow cosmos sea is also starting to bloom more abundantly.

The angel’s trumpet flower sea, which began blooming in October, remains absolutely dreamy. The small hill is covered in a romantic sea of purple flowers, resembling a lavender field from abroad at first glance. Visiting the Guandu Flower Sea Festival is free, parking is complimentary, and best of all, public transport is very convenient—you don’t have to trek far… just get off the shuttle bus and you’re right at the flower sea. No wonder not only fashion influencers come here for photos, but even couples shoot their wedding portraits here. Scroll down for detailed info on parking and how to get to the Guandu Flower Sea Festival.

October 2017

Many people mistake this for lavender—it’s actually the angel’s trumpet flower.

Deep purple, light purple, pink, and white angel’s trumpet flowers weave together a stunning floral carpet.

Other areas are reserved for cultivating sunflowers and cosmos seedlings, so the angel’s trumpet flower sea isn’t very large. But the two small hills are more than enough to make everyone’s photo sessions joyful.

During the replanting of the first phase’s large zinnias, visitors were allowed to pick flowers for free on-site. Hope we can catch another replanting day next time^^

Passing by the Guandu Flower Sea Festival that day, I spotted lots of girls dressed up especially for photo shoots—the flowers paled in comparison to their beauty. Plus, with the cooler weather, enjoying the flower sea is much more comfortable than in summer.

The path behind the themed mini train is the most popular photo spot. To get the perfect shot, be prepared to wait in line~ Note: Entry into the flower sea itself is prohibited. However, the pathway is well-designed—if you crouch slightly while framing your shot, you can create the illusion of strolling through the flower fields.

The sky here is stunning, without high-rises or intrusive power lines—doesn’t feel like Taipei City at all.

On the side near Chengde Road and Xianzai Port Park, the flower sea pathway goes uphill toward the flower sea viewing platform.

With nearly four months left in the exhibition, many of the white PET bottle windmills on the viewing platform have faded… such a shame.

Yellow cosmos currently in seedling stage.

There’s also a large area of sunflowers still in the seedling stage. My inner scream: Can’t wait!!!

August 2017

August 28, 2017 — First Visit to Guandu Flower Sea. Near Taipei Children’s Amusement Park, the Beitou Shilin Technology Park has launched a six-month-long, free Guandu Flower Sea Festival. With such a rare expanse of flower seas in Taipei, of course we had to bring Qinghe and Tony here to check it out!!

It’s expected that different flower seas will bloom in rotation—currently the stars are the large zinnias, soon to be followed by purple angel’s trumpet flowers, sunflower seas… and more. It’s all so exciting.

The 2017 Guandu Flower Sea Festival is free to enter—no ticket required. The flower sea exhibition runs from August 25, 2017 to February 28, 2018, daily from 07:00 to 19:00. Important note: The Guandu Flower Sea Festival is not in Guandu!! Its main location is around Xianzai Port Park in the Beitou Shilin Technology Park—don’t go to the Guandu MRT station by mistake.

 

Transportation to the Guandu Flower Sea Festival:

You can take the MRT to Zhishan Station, but it’s still quite a walk to the festival. Flower sea area has added new bus stops—Children’s Amusement Line 1 and Line 2 both go there, probably the most convenient option.

If you're driving or riding a scooter, enter through the Flower Sea Festival entrance. There is a designated parking lot next to the flower fields, with 60 car parking spaces and 300 scooter parking spaces (free of charge). If the parking lot is full, there are a few roadside parking spots on Chengde Road, or you can park at the Children's New Amusement Park — the walking distance is manageable (though there is a parking fee there).

Up close, the large cosmos flowers have layered petals that aren’t as light and beautiful as cosmos flowers. But, the beauty lies in numbers~ Also, this area doesn’t have many tall buildings, making it rare to capture such a clear skyline within Taipei city.

In line with the Universiade — lots of Bear Blessings are hidden among the flower fields. I wonder if they’ll be kept there permanently later on.

Since it’s a flower sea, there’s naturally no shade. Be sure to apply sunscreen and stay hydrated. We arrived around 4:30 PM — the slanting sunlight was still quite harsh, but there was a cool breeze, which made it quite pleasant. Add in some time for daydreaming and resting, and before we knew it, we’d stayed for an hour. We had only planned for a quick visit~ XD

The two of them were really in the photo-taking mood today~ They behaved well and didn’t run around ^^

Enjoying flowers while eating a lollipop — isn’t that a bit too indulgent~

You can’t tell from the photos — the windmills are actually spinning really fast. Several stands are already empty without any windmills on them. We saw windmill blades flying out, and Qingge enthusiastically picked them up to fix them (actually just reinstalling them), but I was really afraid he’d be mistaken for a kid vandalizing public property~ and then get reported ><

The structure of these windmills should probably be reinforced; otherwise, they might not withstand the stronger winds in winter ~ ((Qing’s hat kept getting blown away, so he just took it off))

Mini train garden landscaping

There is a Flower Sea Viewing Platform above the flower fields

We rested here and daydreamed for a while ~

Of course, we also rehydrated

Landscaped sculptures in various athletic poses 

The landscaping in this area kind of reminds me of lanterns

Took a group photo before leaving. Qing and Tony took turns being blinded by the sunlight, but we finally got a somewhat successful shot ~ So happy ^^ I gave the hat with a chin strap to Qingge; mom was almost getting sunburned ><

Finally, here’s a video of the swaying flower sea ~

 ▲ Video provided by:Ms. Wenwen and the Kids’ Facebook fan pagePlease do not reproduce without permission.

The Guandu Flower Sea Festival is not actually in Guandu ! It’s near the Children’s New Amusement Park, the Science Education Museum, the Astronomy Museum, and the MRT] Park. You can plan a one-day trip here ~

Guandu Flower Sea Festival
Location: No. 329, Section 6, Chengde Road, Taipei City
Opening Hours: Daily from 07:00 to 19:00, August 25, 2017 ~ February 28, 2018

Ms. Wenwen and the KidsFacebook fan page,blog