By Wang Jiaye
Plum blossom appreciation is helpful to relax and refresh yourselves. Now it is a good time to see and enjoy plum blossom at the beginning of the spring. Here are the places recommended to you to have a wonderful plum tour.
Shanghai Qingpu Plum Blossom Festival 2009 is held from Feb. 15 to Mar. 15 in Qingpu District. A number of attractions are taking activities in the period of the festival:
Over 3000 plum trees are planted along the waters in the Oriental Green Boat. They seem like a sea of fragrant snow in the full bloom season. People are able to appreciate the spectacular view of flowers, fish and willows to enjoy themselves. Moreover, during the period of the festival, free entrance tickets are available to those visitors who have "mei" ("梅", a Chinese character means plum) in their names. They shall visit the Oriental Green Boat by their valid documents such as identification cards.
Plum Garden in the Grand View Garden is also named "Mei Wu Chun Nong" in Chinese meaning for a plum blossom garden with strong flavor of spring. It is the biggest resort for viewing plum blossom in Shanghai and one of the Four Plum Gardens in the southern area of the Yangtze River. There are more than 4,000 plum trees of 30-plus species in the garden. Apart from viewing the flowers, people can visit the well-known buildings of A Dream of Red Mansion, like the Grand View Pavilion and Yi Hong Garden as well as enjoy the wonderful folk performances like field songs and folk dances.
Visitors may taste plum wine and plum cakes in Zhujiajiao Ancient Town during the period of Shanghai Plum Blossom Festival.
Moreover, the 13th Suzhou Tai Lake Plum Blossom Festival was unveiled on Feb. 14 and will last to the middle of March. During the festival, activities of all sorts are attracting visitors, such as plum appreciation, photography, kite flying and gourmet month.
Now five tour lines for viewing plum blossom have been launched by Shanghai Tour Center. Visitors may dial 64265555 for more information.
Tips
※ The best period for viewing plum blossom is "the Waking of Insects", called "Jingzhe" in Chinese (one of the 24 Solar Terms, it usually falls on Mar. 6 or around).
※ Key elements for visitors to enjoy plum blossom are "color, shape and fragrance."
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