Over 800 varieties of flowering chrysanthemums are ready to welcome visitors to the Second Yangtze River Delta Chrysanthemum Exhibition in Hangzhou Botanical Garden. Running through November 28, the exhibition is co-hosted by 15 cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, including Shanghai and Nanjing, and Suzhou cities in Jiangsu Province.
Categorized into three sections, the exhibition celebrates the long horticultural history of the chrysanthemum and encourages exchanges of expertise in cultivation and flower arranging.
The first section consists of flower arrangement designs with 13 themes. Some feature Hangzhou local landscapes, others suit village decoration, while more fit traditional poetic Jiangnan (regions south of the lower reach of the Yangtze River) styles.
Chrysanthemums are one of the prettiest varieties of perennials that start blooming in early autumn in Hangzhou. Known as the favorite flower of November, ancient Chinese people eulogized its refined beauty in poems and ink wash paintings. It has been dubbed one of the "four gentlemen" in Chinese art for a millennium, along with the orchid, plum blossom, and bamboo.
During the exhibition, the botanical garden will host lectures about the medical uses and cultivation of chrysanthemums in an effort to popularize the centuries-old culture among citizens.
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