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Marina Bay may offer a newer, flashier vision of what an urban green space might look like, but the 82-hectare oasis of <a href="https://www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg?DestinAsian">Singapore Botanic Gardens</a> has earned a spot on the <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1483/?DestinAsian" class="broken_link">UNESCO World Heritage List</a> for “demonstrating the evolution of a British tropical colonial botanic garden” since its foundation in 1859. Ambling along the tree-shaded pathways, you might feel as though you’ve come across a slice of Old Blighty in Southeast Asia. The manicured grounds are dotted with historical structures including Burkill Hall, an Anglo-Malay plantation house; the Victorian cast-iron gazebo beside <a href="https://www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg/our-gardens/tanglin-entrance/swan-lake?DestinAsian">Swan Lake</a>; and an octagonal bandstand that has been a fixture since 1930. While budding plant enthusiasts have multiple greenhouses to explore, most overseas visitors make a beeline for the National Orchid Garden on the garden’s highest hill. It flaunts an impressive variety of orchid species and hybrid cultivars such as Papilionanthe Miss Joaquim (formerly known as Vanda Miss Joaquim), Singapore’s national flower. —James Louie
<a href="https://www.nparks.gov.sg/sbg?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nparks.gov.sg/sbg</a> 
<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/ZdZaGFQxnfh3jC5n8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1 Cluny Road, Singapore</a>

The bandstand in Singapore Botanic Gardens

Singapore Botanic Gardens: Heritage UNESCO Landscapes

Singapore Attractions

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