Taiping Lake Garden is the oldest public garden in Malaysia, established since 1880 from a disused mining pool. Also known as Taman Tasik Taiping, the park sprawls majestically across 62 hectares of landscaped gardens, parks and lakes swelled with large droves of flowers, shrubs and trees. In morning and evening, the park is naturally a favourite haunt of locals for recreation and relaxation.
Designed by Colonel Robert Walker during the colonial era, the land came as a donation from businessman Chung Thye Pin, with further refinement by town planner Charles Compton Reade. Receiving much praise from visiting British officials and travellers for its architectural beauty, Lake Garden remains a delight of Taiping town till today.
Rain trees (Angsana variety) that were planted here over a century ago still perch dramatically around the park confines, raining down yellow flowers during strong gusts of wind that carpet the greenery in gold. These impressive rain trees have a stout stump from which tall branches spurt forth, arching into a massive dome-shaped crown.
