Head to Fengxian for the biggest plum blossom and wintersweet exhibition in city

Chen Xihan

Wintersweet flowers are in full bloom across the city, and Shanghai's greenery authority said that the best time to appreciate the plum blossoms is around mid- and late February.

From Thursday, the Shanghai Haiwan National Forest Park in Fengxian District will host the China Plum Blossom and Wintersweet Exhibition, the biggest of its kind in the city. It will feature some 42,000 plum blossom trees of over 120 varieties and about 5,000 wintersweet trees and pots — some of them rare species.

Wintersweet flowers will be at their best till middle of February. Few plum blossom varieties have already flowered at the park.

Shen Huanming

The flowers are of various colors such as red, white, pink, green and yellow. They all have light fragrance. Plum blossom landscapes with waterfall, Jiangnan gardens, bridges, bamboo forest, courtyard, lanterns and rockery are part of the park. The park's plum blossom garden is the biggest in East China.

"The chilly weather will probably delay slightly the flowering of plum blossoms, which prefer temperatures between 5 and 10 degrees Celsius," said Zhang Yongping, a gardening expert.

Rui Guoqìng

Traditional performances like rolling lanterns, flower drum, folk music, the show of Hanfu, the traditional outfit of ancient China, will be staged during the exhibition, which ends on March 31.

The Guyi Garden, Century Park, Zuibaichi Park, Gucun Park and Chenshan Botanic Garden are some of the other places in the city to appreciate the seasonal fragrant flowers.

Guyi Garden has about 200 wintersweet trees, while Century Park has 500. Some of them were brought from Dabashan Mountain in Sichuan Province.

Ti Gong

Ti Gong