Iconic lotus unfurl in annual splash of beauty in flower’s ‘hometown’
Print Edition
LAID out like a giant lotus leaf, Xinbang Town in southwestern Songjiang has earned its reputation as “the home of the lotus” for about 1,500 years. Today the town has been the biggest lotus flower-breeding center in eastern China with a water area of almost four square kilometers.
Its annual lotus festival has begun since last Friday and will run for two months, offering day-trippers flora fun this summer.
More than 500 lotus breeds are on display, highlighted with almost 300 new breeds, over 60 water lilies and 58 lotus of space breeding.
Visitors can enjoy the thick green leaves inlaid with white or pink flowers at the town’s Fishing Port (渔人码头) or along the Hucao, Yexin and Xucun roads.
At the Lotus Commune (荷花公社) that boasts about 10 hectares of lotus area, people can not only enjoy the flowers but also have fun in angling crayfish, feeding little goats and catching chickens. Crayfish are an extremely popular freshwater delicacy among locals in the summer. The dishes are served with different flavors of lotus tea.
Xuelanghu Ecological Park (雪浪湖生态园) with 13.2-hectare lotus is offering barbequed food, ice-cold beer served amid screens airing the European Championship matches. In addition, a water-splashing festival and a match-making event will push the lotus festival to a climax.
The Yayuan Garden (雅园) with 6.7-hectare lotus sponsors a lotus food festival, offering cuisine and drinks using the flowers or its parts.
Parents and their kids can enjoy a bonding time at the Hujiadi Village by making paper umbrellas, dying homespun clothes and painting on T-shirts.
At the junction of Hucao and Yexin roads, there will be a few shelters to display the town’s agricultural products, lotus tea and other souvenirs.
Xinbang is an agricultural center boasting clean water, fresh air and fertile land.
The town’s association with lotus dates back more than 1,500 years. Nestled amid rivers and canals, the town’s name derives from its geographic similarity to the shape of a lotus leaf.
During the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), local farmers planted lotus in the town’s crisscrossing waterways. The locality became known as the “hometown of lotus.”
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