More open spaces offer city dwellers a walk back to nature

"Golf is a good walk spoiled," goes the phrase of disdain popularly attributed to writer and humorist Mark Twain.

Certainly, for many residents of densely populated Beijing, the expansive fairways of a golf course, peppered with knolls, ponds and sand traps and fringed with trees and other verdant vegetation - all limited to the privileged few who play the sport - may seem like a waste of precious green resources in the city.

So you can imagine my delight when I discovered an abandoned golf course in a southwestern suburb during springtime. The grounds were still brown under a blue sky, but the trees were thickening and the flowers blooming. Birdsong filled the air, while a refreshing breeze blew over glistening streams and ponds.