In January of 2025 we welcome spring with open arms. The floral season has begun, and I have been seeing some really beautiful photographs of purple tabebuia on travel and photography blogs. Striking the iron while it’s hot, I packed my bags for a quick trip to Xinhui, Jiangmen, in search for heavenly views of the purple tabebuia.

I took a three-day, two-night trip to Jiangmen from Hong Kong. I departed Hong Kong in the afternoon on Day 1. I arrived in Xinhui in the early evening, then spent a whole day in Day 2 to see three tourist spots. On Day 3, I visited the Chenpi Village (which makes the very prized and famous dried mandarin peels) before I took the coach back to Hong Kong.

Xinhui, Jiangmen in Guangdong Province is particularly known for the dried mandarin peel (chenpi) that it produces. In fact, Xinhui’s chenpi has been named in the ancient medical scrolls of China, the preeminent Bencao Gangmu (The Compendium of Materia Medica). Xinhui is thus properly the home of chenpi.

I had never heard of the flowers there, but my main purpose of the visit was to photograph the blooming purple tabebuia trees at the Lvmei Ecological Park.

Itinerary

Day 1 (Arrival)

Dinner in Xinhui

Accommodation: 7 Day Premium Hotel (2 star), Pedestrian Street, Xinghui Plaza, Xinhui, Jiangmen

I chose 7 Day Premium Hotel because of its very convenient location. By car, it takes just about 15 to 20 minutes to Lvmei Shengtai Yuan for purple tabebuia viewing.

Day 2 (Full Day) in Xinhui, Jiangmen

8am – 11am       Lvmei Shengtai Yuan (Green Beauty Ecological Park) (3 hours)

12pm – 1pm.     Lunch in Xinhui

1pm – 3:30pm  Shijian Park (2 hours on the lake trail loop)

4:30pm – 5pm Yamen Fort (The Yamen Fort closes at 4:30pm)

6pm – 8pm.     Daxia Tanbao, tile charcoal grill by the Tan River

Day 3 (Half Day) in Xinhui, Jiangmen

9:00—10:30am Chenpi Village (Dried Mandarin Peel Village)

How to Get There

There are buses running between Hong Kong and Xinhui, Jiangmen. The journey took 3.5 hours and I boarded in Prince Edward.

What happens is, the coach will take you to the boundary crossing at Shenzhen Bay Port. You will get off the coach, go through immigration, then on the other side, you look for the coach that takes you to your destination. My destination was Xinhui, Jiangmen, China. Although there is no need to hurry, as numerous bus routes run continuously throughout the day, you are not supposed to be taking your time either. The bus waiting area is slightly confusing, but you won’t miss it. All that you have to do is to ask the staff there which bus goes to your destination.

From Xinhui, the best way to get to the Lvmei Ecological Park is to either hire a driver to take you for the day, or to call a car on Didi App. If you hire a driver, it does make sense to do all of the three spots I named in Day 2. However, if you plan on calling a car on the Didi App, be sure to allow a whole lot of time on your return trip. Those locations are not very convenient, and few drivers are around. From Lvmei Ecological Park, I had to wait half an hour before a driver picked me up to go back to Xinhui for lunch.

A good idea is to have a very good breakfast before you visit the Lvmei Ecological Park, then walk about 45 minutes to the Shijian Park. Calling Didi from the Shijian Park turned out to be slightly easier than calling Didi from the Lvmei Ecological Park.

When I finally made it to the Yamen Fort, which was 50 minutes by drive from Shijian Park, I was almost turned away by the guard because I was 6 minutes past the closing hour. Therefore, if you do not think you can make it to the Yamen Fort by 4:30pm, then perhaps not to go at all.