Daan Forest Park is a sprawling oasis with a corner for every Taipei resident looking for a refuge. It''s recently gotten two additions that make it even more of a paradise for urban dwellers. Formosa News reporter Stephany Yang takes us in.

Beautiful hydrangeas and French lavender are in bloom at Daan Forest Park''s Azalea Garden. Azalea season is over, but these flowers will be at the peak of their beauty until mid-April. On this day, many people are out at the garden with their sketchbooks.

Park visitor
We are in a sketching class. You can’t find hydrangeas everywhere. The ones in bloom here are more beautiful.

Park visitor
I walked here from Exit 6 and saw that there are flowers here. This is my first time here.

Stephany Yang
Formosa News reporter
The bald cypress trail will open to the public on April 15th. Visitors can walk along the trail and bird watch.

Besides adding the garden, the Friends of Daan Forest Park Foundation have built a viewing platform next to the ecological pond and planted over 10 bald cypress trees. The viewing platform will open to the public on April 15.

Yang Ping-shih
Friends of Daan Forest Park Foundation CEO
We will plant more than 10 more this year to make this area around the water very beautiful. The trail will open on April 15th, so that people can use it to appreciate the bird island and get closer to the avian ecology.

Park visitor
I think this makes it much easier to bird watch. Bird watching is therapeutic. On the water, there’s also the reflection of all these bald cypress. It''s very beautiful.

With the completion of the garden and pathway, Daan Forest Park has even more to offer people seeking a natural oasis in the heart of Taipei.