China Peony Festival Tour 2015
April 10th - 23rd, 2015
 

 

April 17

First we visit the White Horse Temple, In the year 64 of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), Emperor Ming sent a delegation of his men to study Buddhism in the western world. After three years, two eminent Indian monks, She Moteng and Zhu Falan, came back with the delegation. They brought with them a white horse carrying Buddhist sutras and Buddhist figures on its back. This was the first time that Buddhism appeared in China. To express his thanks to the two monks and their white horse, the emperor ordered the building of a monastery which he named the White Horse Temple during the following year. Then we cross the road to the

The Peony Festival, where you will enjoy seeing thousands of peonies in all their glorious colour and depending on the weather prior to our arrival, we may just get to glimpse the late season Green Peony just opening or in full bloom. Keep those fingers crossed! The Peony of Luoyang is the most beautiful under heaven. The Peony, the emblem flower of Luoyang, is lauded as “Queen of flowers with ethereal colour and celestial fragrance”. Since the Tang Dynasty no Chinese city has been able to rival Luoyang in growing peonies boasting nearly 10 million peony trees with more than 700
species - all thanks to improvements in technology of peony cultivation. The yaohuang (Yao’s yellow peony) and weizi (Wei’s purple peony) are the “King” & “Queen” of all peonies. It has a history of over 1,000 years in the cultivation of peony trees. Their colours range from red, pink, purple, lavender and white to green, yellow, maroon and even black. In China, the peony symbolizes wealth and nobleness due to its large flowers. The first Luoyang Peony Festival took place in April 1983 and since then it has become a major annual event featuring flowers, lanterns, exhibitions of traditional Chinese calligraphy, painting and photography. Peonies and Plum blossoms are the traditional floral symbols of China. In 1903, the Qing Dynasty declared the Peony as the national flower of China.

Luoyang National Peony Garden (where the festival is held) is one of the oldest gardens to grow and reproduce peonies in China. It is divided into North Garden and South Garden. There are over 1 million peony trees of 1200 different kinds. The peony blooming here is highly reputed for its big flower, flamboyant color, numerous species and lasting florescence. Blooming date: more than 100 kinds of peonies will first bloom from April 5th to 10th; 500 or so kinds of rare peonies will be in full bloom from April 11th to 20th; another 200 species usually flower late from April 21st to May 4th.

 

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