FLOWERS AT FESTIVAL
Magical chrysanthemums have entranced admirers for over a millennium and its fan base is global
Excitement is building as the 36th China Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Culture Festival gets set to kick off on Thursday in Kaifeng, Henan province, displaying the extraordinary charm of the renowned plant and recounting the long history behind its cultivation to people around the world.
This ancient capital has survived natural disasters, the ravages of time and being the seat of power for no less than eight dynasties.
The city is looking at internationalization and driving its growth by integrating culture and the economy, striving for rapid and high-quality growth.
It is reviving to regain its glory as the prosperous city depicted in famous painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival.
The chrysanthemum is the city flower of Kaifeng and it is believed that the traditions behind cultivating different varieties of them go back more than 1,000 years, reaching a peak during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
With the theme of “Kaifeng City, the Land of Chrysanthemum; Chinese Dream, Our Eternal Priority”, the festival will run until Nov 18, expecting to draw major crowds who will gain insights into the exotic world of chrysanthemums as well as an understanding of the city’s chrysanthemum industry and its economic development.
This year, the festival will focus on demonstrating new types of chrysanthemum blossoms with bright colors and featuring diverse elements — ranging from displays about the culture of the Song Dynasty and the 40 years of reform and opening-up to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises — to showcase the host city’s local culture and environment, said Gao Jianjun, mayor of Kaifeng.
For the upcoming event, Kaifeng has decorated itself with a total of 2.79 million pots of chrysanthemum blossoms, with 1.9 million pots positioned within the main venue in Longting district and 890,000 pots placed around the city.
During the festivities, there will be 59 interactive activities for visitors to engage in and to promote trade in the chrysanthemum industry, Gao said.
“The festival has become a renowned international cultural exchange platform and a crucial carrier to promote Chinese traditional culture,” Gao said.
The chrysanthemum festival has been held for 35 consecutive years owing to the history of the city flower of Kaifeng.
Since the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), growing the chrysanthemum was prevalent in Kaifeng and has become a tradition. Every year in October, it is the season of chrysanthemum flowers blooming across the city.
The flower’s culture and beauty has earned Kaifeng the position of being one of the best places to fully appreciate the beauty of the chrysanthemum and made the festival a profound feast for visitors’ eyes.
The festival is not just about the blooming of the legendary chrysanthemum, but it also links with Kaifeng culture, said Li Hongning, director of the festival office of the Kaifeng government.
“The festival in Kaifeng differs from others for its showcasing of Song Dynasty palace culture and Zen-tea culture with different themes,” Li said.
“In recent years, we have attached importance to exploring more cultural resources, to develop our culture industry based on the festival,” she added.
In 2015, the Kaifeng city government released a guideline called the “culture plus strategy”, calling for development of all types of industries in the based on culture.
With this strategy in hand, the city has robustly developed through the integration of chrysanthemum culture and agriculture, Li said.
The wondrous flowers shown at the festival are all delicacies, Li said. “From these, we have developed the chrysanthemum industry into a competitive one,” she added.
Nowadays, enterprising local industries have expanded the business by developing a range of products related to the chrysanthemum such as essential oils, drugs and crafts.
“The festival has promoted the extension of the chrysanthemum industry, and brought in more revenue for the development of the city’s culture and tourism,” Li said.
The festival is a city brand of Kaifeng with a profound cultural history, she added.
“We hope to show our achievements in years of development and to attract more investment to the city through the festival.”
The annual festival was first held in 1983 and won seven Guinness World Records related to chrysanthemum over seven consecutive years since 2011.