Guangzhou Children's Park and Guangzhou Yuexiu Park in China's Guangdong Province have won the 2026 Large Urban Parks Award from World Urban Parks (WUP), a global organization for urban parks, open spaces and recreation.

The award recognizes large urban parks and open spaces worldwide that demonstrate innovative practices, benefit their communities, improve environmental health and set examples of excellence in park management. The 2026 WUP Awards cover Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.

Guangzhou Children's Park

Originally founded in 1958 and later relocated to the core area of Baiyun New Town, the park opened in June 2014 and covers 31.96 hectares. It has received more than 53 million visitors since opening, with a single-day record exceeding 100,000. Over the past three years, visitor numbers have grown at an average annual rate of 87.84 percent, making it one of the most popular parks in Guangzhou and one of the largest parks in China dedicated to children.

The park features 24 themed play areas for ages 0–18, more than 1,300 pieces of soft, eco-friendly safety equipment. Additionally, it includes what is described as China's first barrier-free play area for children with disabilities, fitted with braille signage and wheelchair swings.

The park has carried out systematic ecological restoration. An "underwater forest" purification system has raised the park's lake water quality to Grade III surface water standards.

A survey recorded 547 plant and animal species, including 39 bird species, among which is the collared owlet, a nationally protected second-class species. There are also 22 butterfly species. The native Lingnan plants, such as banyan, camphor and kapok, form the backbone of the planting, while nectar-bearing plants support a stable community of wildlife ranging from Pallas's squirrels to insects.

Guangzhou Yuexiu Park

Located in central Guangzhou and built on Yuexiu Mountain, Yuexiu Park is the city's largest comprehensive urban park and a cultural landmark. Covering about 650,000 square meters, it combines hills and water and holds more than 2,000 years of the city's history.

Cultural relics and historic sites are scattered throughout, including the Five Rams Stone Sculpture, Zhenhai Tower, the Ming Dynasty city wall and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Monument. The park serves as both a green lung for the city and a record of its heritage.

Once a mountain forest on the edge of the ancient city, Yuexiu Park today combines ecological conservation, heritage preservation, cultural tourism, science education and public fitness. It carries out regular forest tending and planting improvements, follows low-carbon construction principles, and has built a carbon-neutral themed garden to develop a stable and diverse mountain forest plant community.

The park is free and open to the public year-round and receives more than 10 million visitors annually. Trails circle the mountain, with fitness areas and rest platforms suitable for all ages, making it a popular choice for daily walks, family outings and leisure.

Photos | Guangzhou Children's Park, China Guangzhou Fabu