It is that time of the year. The “fall” foliage is once again the center of attention for theme photographers. On this wonderfully sunny winter day we visited the Honghualing Park, into the depths of the Longgang District of Shenzhen, to see some of the winter colors this year.

The day of visit was January 12, 2026.

I have written a few entries about fall foliage viewing in Shenzhen. Last year, I visited the Sihai Park, Lianhuashan Park and the Xianhu (Fairy Lake) Park.

The general time period of “fall” foliage season is sometime from December to January. The time that leaves turn golden depends almost entirely on the arrival of cold front in any given winter. Most of the locations that have a large population of bald cypress will turn crimson around late December or so. It is therefore actually “winter” foliage. Shenzhen is not generally known for maple trees, which turn red during late autumn.

This year, the winter has been very temperate until early January 2026. After a really cold week, the bald cypress of Shenzhen clamored in golden red.

Another point to note is that the bald cypress grows close to water. Therefore, foliage viewing in Shenzhen usually comes with very nice waterfront scenery.

The Golden Colors of Bald Cypress in Honghualing Park

When I entered the park via the parking lot, I took the route on the left. That will take you to the Shuangyong Woods, really the only lake area in this park. The site opens up to rows and rows of bald cypress, surrounding the whole lake area.

There is a cute red bridge, and please do take the time to soak in the sunshine views.

Other Highlights at the Honghualing Park

Honghualing Park has an expansive size even as it compares to other parks in China, which all tend to be quite big. It spans an area of 276,500 square meters.

From the lake, keep going toward the shady paths of the park, and you will pass by some tennis and soccer courts. Keep going and soon enough you will arrive at an exceedingly large and open area. The administrator calls it “the lawn.”

It is perfect for picnic, kite flying and frisbee throwing.

The Honghualing Park is especially well-groomed. The administrators maintain groups of different trees in different sections. Just a simple stroll gives you a kind of “serene stimulation”— you will enjoy pockets of themed arboretum, at times providing shade, at times sifting the sunshine into golden slivers.

The Subtexts of Politics and History at Honghualing Park

The Honghualing Park is a municipal facility that commemorates the Chinese Communists’ martyrs. Its proper name is Honghualing Revolutionary Memorial Park.

As such, the park features a lot of statues and installations with representations of patriotism, including battle scenes, victory and martyrdom sculptures.

As artwork, they are not too bad, although they certainly exhibit a kind of orthodox communist sentiment. They are classic even in terms of the communist spirit — as clearly distinguishable from the current representations of the People’s Liberation Army that one can spot in China’s cities now and then.

Photos: The statues and sculptures in the park celebrates a list of 542 martyrs that died in the revolutionary wars, the Sino-Japanese wars, the Liberation War and the Socialist Revolution.

Otherwise, there is also the monument square and a military exhibition site that showcases the weaponry of a bygone era. It is moderately educational.

Photo: The Shenyang J-6 a fighter aircraft was modeled after the Soviet MIG-19 Fighter, made in 1961. It was the first supersonic jet fighter aircraft in China.

Photo: Type 59 Medium Tank

How to Get There

The Honghualing Park is located on the southeast side of the Qinglinjing Reservoir of the Longgang District. We took the metro Line 3 to Shuanglong Metro Station and then called a Didi car to ride for about 15 minutes to get there. You may consider taking a bus from the Jixiang Metro Station as well (Route M501A), but it does take significantly longer. Coming from Hong Kong, expect to take two hours to reach the park.

Sources

Descriptions on site at the Honghualing Park.