Hangzhou has entered its prime flower-specific season—Nestled in the hills of Shuangpu in Xihu District, a garden built on the site of an abandoned quarry is now bursting with spring charm.

At the Mengye Mijing, a flower farm, flower-covered slopes stretch upward, with farm buildings featuring green tiles and white walls dotted across the landscape. Visitors are seen taking photos, playing with pets, and soaking up the rural vibes.

“People started lining up to get in as early as 8 a.m. Right now, we’re seeing about 500 to 600 visitors a day,” said Zhuang Xun, the farm’s manager. With the weather warming up, the flowers have reached full bloom.

Not long ago, this hidden gem was nothing more than barren land. “When we first arrived, all we saw were exposed rocks, construction waste, and an abandoned chicken farm,” Zhuang recalled. In late April 2025, he led his team to begin transforming the site—leveling slopes, restoring greenery, and reimagining the landscape—to create a rural flower farm.

Today, the farm is home to around 50,000 flowers across more than 60 varieties. Among them, tulips—early spring’s crowd favorite—are planted with early, mid, and late-blooming varieties, extending their display through mid-April. Zhuang said the flower fields will change with the seasons: after the tulips fade, allium and hydrangeas will take the spotlight.

The farm is part of the Shishanxia Quarry Art Park, once a mining site for the Zhoufu Village. As Hangzhou pushed forward with its eco-city initiative, all 23 quarries in Zhoufu were gradually shut down. In 2017, the district began rehabilitating abandoned quarries, and Zhoufu launched efforts to restore vegetation on the Xintang quarry site.

In 2023, the village brought in the Shishanxia Cultural Tourism Group to set aside 2,000 mu (roughly 330 acres) within the quarry for redevelopment. Today, popular attractions like the Gudebao Manor, Dixin Town, and Mengye Mijing have all taken root in the village. What was once a wasteland has been made a vibrant rural destination featuring campsites, gardens, art galleries, off-road trails, and equestrian experiences.

Shuangpu is nowadays home to 13 popular sites, including commercial photography bases, camping spots, and rural farms. These distinctive urban-rural tourism projects are drawing visitors from the city and beyond. In 2025, it received nearly 2.5 million visitors—a significant increase from previous years.