As the sunny spring weather warms up the city, flowers are blooming and animals are returning from their winter retreats. Beijing's Yuyuantan Park is celebrating the arrival of spring's beautiful cherry blossoms with its annual Cherry Blossom Festival.
"It is tradition for
Beijing citizens to visit parks with family and friends when spring comes so they can breathe the fresh air of spring," Lv Wenjun, deputy secretary of Yuyuantan Park, said.
Yuyuantan Park opened in 1960, but did not receive its renowned crop of cherry blossom trees until over a decade later. In 1972, Japan sent
Beijing a gift of 1,000 cherry blossom trees, 180 of which were planted in Yuyuantan Park.
However, raising the trees hasn't been easy; cherry blossom trees favor a wet, humid environment and acidic soil — the opposite of Beijing's climate. "We take care to water the trees sufficiently in the spring and then drain the extra water during the summer to protect roots during the rainy season. We work to protect the trees against diseases and insects and cover rare breeds and young trees in winter," Lv explained.
Lv said the park wishes to host more rare breeds of cherry blossom trees, but caretakers face difficulties in adapting the trees to Beijing's climate. The park currently has over 2,000 cherry trees; many of which have been brought from eastern China's Liaoning and Shandong provinces.
There are over 20 species of cherry blossom trees in the park, but Lv explained they can be divided into two general groups: early and late bloomers. The early bloomers have an odd number of petals while late bloomers will have petals fused together in pairs.
Yuyuantan Park is an expansive urban refuge near the Millennium Monument and the 405-meter tall CCTV tower where visitors can boat on the lake during the summer. An array of activities is hosted during the Cherry Blossom Festival, including a painting and calligraphy exhibition, a photography competition, and cherry blossom tree adoption. This year, the park will host a display of spring tea from Southwest China's Guizhou Province.
A visit during cherry blossom season quickly reveals the most popular activity — photography. Most visitors have come toting cameras in hopes of entering the photography competition, and also several women can been seen having personal portraits taken near the trees.
"I come to Yuyuantan Park every year because I live nearby. There are two precious cherry blossom trees that I enjoy photographing; if I get good pictures, I will enter the contest," one amateur photographer explained.
The park's administration is hoping a different activity will eclipse the popularity of the photography competition in the coming years. Through their adopt-a-tree program, Lv says the park wants to promote awareness about environmental protection. Those that adopt trees are asked to take care of their tree throughout the year and invited to participate in other park activities.
"Yesterday, 200 first-graders came here with their parents to adopt a patch of trees, which will help children develop a sense of environmental protection," Lv said.
April is the prime blooming season for cherry blossoms in Beijing; the festival, which opened on March 24, will run until April 30. Tickets are 10 yuan.
