Plum blossom to greet locals during Spring Festival
A bird's eye view of the plum garden, covering 1.3 square kilometers, in the Gulf Forest Park in Fengxian District.
Shanghai's annual plum blossom festival will start on Tuesday, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, at the Gulf Forest Park in Fengxian District as part of the city's festive celebrations.
About 40,000 plum trees from 126 species will gradually bloom during the 6th "Oriental Beauty Valley" Shanghai Plum Blossom Festival through March 24.
Three sightseeing routes have been designed in the largest plum garden in east China, covering 1.3 square kilometers, for visitors to watch the early and late plum blossoms.
A ceremony will be held on February 23 to mark the full blossom of most plum flowers in the park. Photo and calligraphy exhibitions will be held within the plum forest, along with sports and art performances.
The festival will also feature a fashion week of the Oriental Beauty Valley, the city's major cosmetics and health industry park, from March 16. An ambassador of the valley will be selected for the first time to better promote the valley, which aims to become an incubator for Chinese cosmetics brands to enter the global market.
A 5km jogging event will mark the end of the festival when visitors will be invited to jog through the countryside forest park along the Hangzhou Bay in the southern outskirt region.
Visitors take photos of early plum blossoms in the Gulf Forest Park in Fengxian over the weekend.
A visitor sits inside a sightseeing pavilion in the Gulf Forest Park in Fengxian over the weekend.
Some early plum flowers bloom in the Gulf Forest Park in Fengxian over the weekend.
