This trip to Chongming was quite unexpected and rushed. Originally, I had planned to visit Xisha Wetland and Dongping Forest Park, but unfortunately, Xisha Wetland is undergoing maintenance and will remain closed until the end of the year, leaving only the forest park on the itinerary. Chongming primarily focuses on agricultural development; its commercial sector is relatively underdeveloped, and tourist attractions are limited. Most offerings revolve around rural culture, such as farmhouse dining and agritainment stays, so I left Chongming directly the next day.
Dongping National Forest Park was formerly the Dongping Forest Farm, meaning it is an entirely man-made forest park. It is a 4A-rated scenic area located roughly in the central part of Chongming Island. Thinking back, it has been over ten years since my last visit, and I barely remember anything about it now—except for feeling at the time that there was nothing much inside. That impression remains unchanged today… Aside from a few lakes with murky water and some children’s play facilities, there is really nothing but vast stretches of woodland.
At the entrance, we ran into groups of children on autumn outings, but as we walked further in, there were almost no other tourists at all, which was somewhat eerie… When the weather is pleasant, coming here to enjoy blue skies and white clouds isn’t too bad, but if the journey takes too long, it might not be worth the trip—after all, there are plenty of more pristine natural scenic areas throughout Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.
Photos in this post taken with a SONY A5100 + 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, post-processed in Lightroom.
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