Spring Flower Festival opens to fragrant bloom and ocean of color
Dongping National Forest Park
The Spring Flower Festival opened Wednesday to a fragrant bloom and ocean of color at Dongping National Forest Park in Chongming District.
The gala, also known as the Flower Goddess Festival, is to commemorate the flower season and a precursor to the upcoming 10th China Flower Expo.
China has a splendid history of growing flowers and plants. In ancient times, flower temples were found everywhere. And, during the Spring Flower Festival, people would gather in flower temples to celebrate the season and pray for the prosperity of life. Other traditional customs include eating flower cakes, pleasure trips and admiring flowers.
The old verse “The blooming of hundred flowers delivers half of spring” appreciates the grandeur of the Spring flower Festival.
With a flower cultivation history of more than 500 years, Chongming is the birthplace of flower seedlings such as Chongming narcissus, gladiolus, saffron and anthurium.
On every fourth solar term, chunfen, or the spring equinox, a tradition of travelling together and eating flower cake is practiced.
The festival, which will last through May 20, conveys Chongming’s concept of delivering hospitality, booming business and greeting friends through flowers.
During the festival, a flowerbed border design competition and a garden exhibition has been organized to allow citizens around the Yangtze River Delta Region to show off their gardening talents.
The Chongming Pavilion, themed “A Dream Comes True on the Sea,” was officially opened to public on Wednesday, too.
Covering an area of 500 square meters, the space is decorated in a Chinese Garden style with local plants and materials.
It is composed of traditional elements, such as Xiaoying Lake, Jiahe Hall, Lanyue Pavilion and a natural water system to depict a picture of rural revitalization.
At Dongping Park, also the venue for the South Park of the 10th China Flower Expo, various immersive activities are provided, such as a flower tea and cake admiration program and celebration ceremonies, allowing visitors to experience traditional Chinese flower culture and enjoy the beauty of blooming tulips, orchids and other flowers.
The Spring Flower Festival, a precursor to the 10th China Flower Expo, is underway at Dongping National Forest Park.
The Spring Flower Festival, a precursor to the 10th China Flower Expo, is underway at Dongping National Forest Park.
The Spring Flower Festival
The Spring Flower Festival
Tulips in full blossom
A tulip exhibition was staged on Wednesday afternoon in Hongqiao Flower Base in Jianshe Town.
Three new tulip breeds, “Where Heart Belongs,” “Oriental Pearl” and “Love of Chongming” were showcased. Their unique shapes and passionate colors personify the magnificence and modernity of Shanghai.
As a key part of the Sino-Dutch Tulip Industrial Base, Hongqiao Flower Base has built a flower plant of nearly 8,000 square meters and a flower theme park of 155 acres. Through cultivation, production and processing, exhibition and sales of the Mediterranean bulbous breed, the integration of the flower industry chain, as well as the new development model of “flower + tourism” are promoted.
During the exhibition, more than 3 million tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other bulbous flowers from the Netherlands, as well as dozens of other characteristic herbaceous flowers, were arranged into a splendid blooming sea for tourists to explore.
The butterfly-shaped Century Pavilion, a landmark venue of the 10th China Flower Expo, is taking shape.
Final touch to the flower expo
For those yearning for a country getaway from the city bustle, the island is an ideal setting for those who enjoy various ecological resources such as forests and wetlands.
Since the successful bid of the 10th China Flower Expo in 2018, Chongming has accelerated implementing a rural revitalization strategy and an ecological civilization to build a flower island on the sea.
Themed “Blossom with a Chinese Dream,” the flower Expo will be a great opportunity for Chongming to create its own ecological industry.
By introducing a large number of leading flower enterprises the island focuses on the development of flower industry clusters to benefit local residents and the environment.
With an investment of nearly 2.5 billion yuan (US$382.75 million), the district has planned to build three core flower parks: Chongming International Flower Industrial Park, Sino-Dutch Modern Flower Center and Oriental International Flower Garden.
During the Flower Expo, the 8th China Flower Fair will be held to provide a flower industry exchange platform for exhibitors and accelerate industrial transformation.
The traditional narcissus, boxwood, anthurium and saffron industries will be expanded, creating three major flower and seedling industry clusters in the east, middle and west of the island.
From April 10, six rounds of trial runs will be carried out to check the operations of each facility and emergency plans for big crowds.
Chen Qun, director of the Flower Expo Preparation Office, says local residents will be encouraged to pre-book visits. The presale of tickets will be launched by the end of March via mobile apps and WeChat.
Seven bus line stations to the Flower Expo are being lined up, with four in the Pudong New Area (Longyang Road, Wuzhou Avenue, Jinzuan Road and Gaoqiao Bus Station), three in Puxi (Gonghexin Road, Hutai Road and Jiading New Town). Two water lines will also be provided.
To ensure the efficiency of traffic during the Expo, a special green channel, Wuzhou Avenue — Yangtze River Bridge and Tunnel — Chenhai Highway — Panlong Highway, is planned for the entrance and exit of tourists. They also need to make reservations for parking.
Travelers can also visit nearby Dongping Town and purchase flowers.
Local hotels and homestays can provide accommodation for up to 36,000 beds for those wanting to stop over.
Chongming has further improved its rural environment through multiple flower projects, with acres of rapeseed flowers, sunflowers, pink daisy and tulips.
With less than 60 days before the opening of the Flower Expo, the construction of the expo venues has entered the final stage, including the three main indoor pavilions (the Fuxing Pavilion, Century Pavilion and Bamboo Pavilion), greenery, roads and water systems.
The decoration of 180 outdoor pavilions will be finished before mid-April, participated by international flower companies, sister cities and well-known designers.
The Fuxing Pavilion
The Bamboo Pavilion
