A peach blossom spectacular awaits
April 4, 2011, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE peach blossom period is in full swing and where better to appreciate it than in an area renowned for a particular variety of the fruit. Tan Weiyun looks at peach blossom's influence across Luxiang, folk tales and cosmetics.
Pink peach blossoms, the eternal emblem of love used by ancient Chinese poets to express their admiration for beauties, are blooming in the city's countryside.
Today, one of the best places to see peach blossoms is in Luxiang Town, Jinshan District. The blooming period runs from late March to early April around tomorrow's Qingming Festival.
Covering a growing area of more than 550 hectares, Luxiang boasts East China's biggest base of peento, a type of peach, shaped flat with a very small or no pit, known for their juicy and sweet taste. The area has also earned the reputation as the "hometown of peento."
During the spring, the peach fields that can be seen around the town are overwhelmed with pink and white peach blossoms.
It is an ideal place for lovers and families to embrace the arrival of spring and get a taste of rural village life in the city's southeastern suburb.
Fangxin Park, one of the main peento bases in the town, is currently celebrating the peach flower festival. The park has about 8 hectares of peento groves, including 5,333 square meters grown in greenhouses.
It can be an absolute delight to tiptoe through the seas of blooming flowers with sweet-scented fragrance filling the air.
"The full bloom period is one week later than last year, because this winter was much colder," says the park's director Lu Xiulong. This probably means that the peach-ripening time this year will be also delayed for about one week.
Since ancient China, numerous peach flower-themed poems, novels, dramas and folk operas have been created.
A prevalent folk tale says that anyone who meets his or her loved one under a blossoming peach tree in spring will enjoy a lucky and romantic relationship.
The peach flower is often compared to a girl's pretty face glowing with shy smiles. A famed love story passed down from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) is still popular today and has been adapted for stage and TV many times.
It tells the story of Cui Hu, a young scholar who met a girl in a forest of peach groves during his spring trip to sweep the tomb.
Cui fell in love with the girl at first sight and asked her for clean water to drink. But the two young people were too shy to say anything else to each other and parted company.
The next spring, Cui stopped on purpose in the forest during his tomb-sweeping trip, hoping he would see the girl again. But after waiting a whole day, the girl didn't show up. A local told Cui that the girl had died of lovesickness after he left last spring.
Hearing this, the grieved scholar tried to commit suicide. An immortal, deeply moved by this love, brought the girl back to life with the help of the God of Peach Flower and the couple were finally reunited.
The famed love story between Emperor Li Longji (AD 685-762) of the Tang Dynasty and the concubine Yang Yuhuan also incorporates peach blossoms. The beautiful Yang loved the flower very much and the emperor built a large park of peach trees for her in the palace.
Yang washed her face with water infused with peach flower petals. She also ground the flower into powder and used it as her make-up.
In fact, the flower does have cosmetic functions.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, drinking a mixture of bai jiu (liquor) blended with peach flower buds (best picked around the time of the Qingming Festival) and sliced bai zhi (angelica root) can light up the complexion and dispel chloasma effectively.
The flower contains kaempferol, coumarin, trifolioside and various vitamins that can expand blood vessels, promote blood circulation, clear the collaterals and channels, supplement more oxygen and speed up the discharge of lipofuscin (one of the aging or "wear and tear" pigments found in cells) from the body.
Another simple method can also make the face look pink and plump. Mash fresh peach flower petals and apply the juice to the face. Massage for a few minutes and wash them away. Or mix the dried flower powder with honey and then spread it on the face. These can smooth the skin and invigorate facial cells.
More to see at Fangxin Park
Besides peach trees, the 19.6-hectare park is also home to various fruits and vegetables, such as kiwis, winter jujubes, apples, pears and grapes. In addition, it is home to more than 100 black swans, 20 blue peacocks, pheasants, rabbits, goats and other poultry.
At weekends, visitors can also enjoy folk performances on the old opera stage, while tasting some of the local snacks and village dishes.
Pink peach blossoms, the eternal emblem of love used by ancient Chinese poets to express their admiration for beauties, are blooming in the city's countryside.
Today, one of the best places to see peach blossoms is in Luxiang Town, Jinshan District. The blooming period runs from late March to early April around tomorrow's Qingming Festival.
Covering a growing area of more than 550 hectares, Luxiang boasts East China's biggest base of peento, a type of peach, shaped flat with a very small or no pit, known for their juicy and sweet taste. The area has also earned the reputation as the "hometown of peento."
During the spring, the peach fields that can be seen around the town are overwhelmed with pink and white peach blossoms.
It is an ideal place for lovers and families to embrace the arrival of spring and get a taste of rural village life in the city's southeastern suburb.
Fangxin Park, one of the main peento bases in the town, is currently celebrating the peach flower festival. The park has about 8 hectares of peento groves, including 5,333 square meters grown in greenhouses.
It can be an absolute delight to tiptoe through the seas of blooming flowers with sweet-scented fragrance filling the air.
"The full bloom period is one week later than last year, because this winter was much colder," says the park's director Lu Xiulong. This probably means that the peach-ripening time this year will be also delayed for about one week.
Since ancient China, numerous peach flower-themed poems, novels, dramas and folk operas have been created.
A prevalent folk tale says that anyone who meets his or her loved one under a blossoming peach tree in spring will enjoy a lucky and romantic relationship.
The peach flower is often compared to a girl's pretty face glowing with shy smiles. A famed love story passed down from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) is still popular today and has been adapted for stage and TV many times.
It tells the story of Cui Hu, a young scholar who met a girl in a forest of peach groves during his spring trip to sweep the tomb.
Cui fell in love with the girl at first sight and asked her for clean water to drink. But the two young people were too shy to say anything else to each other and parted company.
The next spring, Cui stopped on purpose in the forest during his tomb-sweeping trip, hoping he would see the girl again. But after waiting a whole day, the girl didn't show up. A local told Cui that the girl had died of lovesickness after he left last spring.
Hearing this, the grieved scholar tried to commit suicide. An immortal, deeply moved by this love, brought the girl back to life with the help of the God of Peach Flower and the couple were finally reunited.
The famed love story between Emperor Li Longji (AD 685-762) of the Tang Dynasty and the concubine Yang Yuhuan also incorporates peach blossoms. The beautiful Yang loved the flower very much and the emperor built a large park of peach trees for her in the palace.
Yang washed her face with water infused with peach flower petals. She also ground the flower into powder and used it as her make-up.
In fact, the flower does have cosmetic functions.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, drinking a mixture of bai jiu (liquor) blended with peach flower buds (best picked around the time of the Qingming Festival) and sliced bai zhi (angelica root) can light up the complexion and dispel chloasma effectively.
The flower contains kaempferol, coumarin, trifolioside and various vitamins that can expand blood vessels, promote blood circulation, clear the collaterals and channels, supplement more oxygen and speed up the discharge of lipofuscin (one of the aging or "wear and tear" pigments found in cells) from the body.
Another simple method can also make the face look pink and plump. Mash fresh peach flower petals and apply the juice to the face. Massage for a few minutes and wash them away. Or mix the dried flower powder with honey and then spread it on the face. These can smooth the skin and invigorate facial cells.
More to see at Fangxin Park
Besides peach trees, the 19.6-hectare park is also home to various fruits and vegetables, such as kiwis, winter jujubes, apples, pears and grapes. In addition, it is home to more than 100 black swans, 20 blue peacocks, pheasants, rabbits, goats and other poultry.
At weekends, visitors can also enjoy folk performances on the old opera stage, while tasting some of the local snacks and village dishes.
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