Taiping Lake Gardens is the first public garden established during the British rule in Malaysia.

This beautiful garden is located near Bukit Larut and within the town center and the Taiping Zoo.
[edit]History

Charles Reade, the town planner

The Taiping Lake Gardens was originally a mining site before it was established as gardens to the public in 1880. The idea of establishing a public garden was much devoted to Colonel Robert Sandilands Frowd Walker. The garden was later developed precisely by Charles Compton Reade(1884 1933), who was also responsible for planning the Kuala Lumpur garden town. The abandoned tin mine was generously donated by the prominent Chinese Capitalist of Perak and also

former Perak State Council member, Mr. Chung Thye Phin (son of Mr. Chung Keng Quee) as the recreation park for the public use. In 1884, the gardens were furnished with grasses, flowers and trees, and part of the gardens was fenced, to avoid the bulls enter the gardens. This 64 hectares land was the first public gardens in Malaya and proudly declared as the most beautiful and well maintained gardens during the heyday and today. There are ten scenic lakes and ponds that made the gardens even more picturesque. Along the Residency Road, near the gardens, were golden rain trees or its Malay name, angsana tree (pterocarpus indicus), planted along the pathway. Its beauty was described by C.W. Harrison in his book, An Illustrated Guide to the Federated Malay States, that the angsana trees rained down in golden snow, providing a carpet fit for the sultan. In George L. Peets, A Journal in the Federal Capital, when he visited Taiping in 1933, said I know of no more lovely sight in this country than the Taiping gardens when the rays of the early morning sun are shining obliquely through their clumps of bamboo, palms and isolated trees scattered on islands among the expanse of water. One receives in that glorious half hour an experience of light in foliage that is quite unobtainable in England. There are few private and government houses located near the gardens, among of it are the Old Residency (the home of Secretary to the Resident), the Rajas House at the junction of Birch Road and Residency Road, the army officers residences at Batu Tugoh Road. The gardens were so beautiful that attracted many travelers to pen down its beauty, in Cuthbert Woodville Harrison, An Illustrated Guide to the Federated Malay States published in 1911 he described, The streets are shaded by rows of the angsena tree, which at irregular intervals bursts forth into a riot of blossoms, even more yellow than those of the laburnum. These it rains down in golden snow upon the streets, providing a carpet fit for a Sultan, for yellow is the royal colour in the East. With its golden snow, the angsena spreads abroad an almost overpowering scent, even more sweet than the smell of the pinang blossom. Most of the towns in Malaya have planted this Pterocarpus indicus as shade tree, but in Taiping it has grown to a greater height than elsewhere.
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