Wushan Hill flower festival's hydrangeas should be at their peak through June 24

The 10th Wushan Hill Baxian Flower Festival is now in full bloom with the blossoms estimated to last through June 24.

In Hangzhou, people call hydrangeas baxian (八仙, eight immortals) flowers, endowing them with poetic elements.

This year, the management committee of the Wushan Hill Scenic Area has grown a total of 120 varieties from home and abroad, in colors including pink, blue, white and red, covering nooks and footpaths in the area.

Two new varieties cultivated by domestic horticulturists are being presented to the public for the first time. One does not yet have a name, but organizers have launched an online activity in which visitors can scan the QR code beside the new flower to suggest names.

Common hydrangeas growing in Wushan Hill feature large round flowerheads that resemble the head of a mop. The new variety bears flat flowerheads with a center core of lavender flowers surrounded by an outer ring of showy flowers.

Visitors can also view the other new variety named Green Mountains. Horticulturists spent five years selecting from 3,000 flowers to cultivate the new flower.

Generally, when new leaf buds are not pruned regularly, the bush will become very "leggy," growing upwards until the weight of the stems is greater than their strength, at which point the stems will sag to the ground and possibly break.

However, the new Green Mountains variety, without regular trimming, can still support the large flowerheads and stems with longer blossoms.

With the rise of a movement that celebrates Chinese culture and focuses on responsiveness to the changing market, festival organizers have arranged the flowers with the theme of guofeng (国风, Chinese style) and set up five scenes filled with Chinese elements.

They have decorated one area with blue hydrangeas and named it "lanran (蓝染, blue dye).

According to archives, ancient residents of the area in the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River used Chinese indigo to extract indigotin (indigo dyes), which were then utilized to create various naval hues.

Different varieties of indigo produced different hues. The most common navy shade came from present-day Zhejiang Province, where artisans produced naturally dyed cottons and developed the dyeing skill named "lanran."

Although natural dyes diminished as chemical synthetic dye manufacturing emerged, their days of glory are not forgotten. Today, some Hangzhou craftspeople still dye textiles with natural indigo. Along with the rise of guofeng, such naturally dyed garments have found favor with consumers.

Today, hydrangeas are some of the most common ornamental flowers in urban areas. Their flowering occurs in periods and is usually followed by a drop in seasonal temperature. Due to the low temperatures this spring, the blooms are predicted to wither earlier than previous years. Visitors are recommended to view the flowers before June 24.

Ti Gong

For years, Wushan Hill has been an education center to popularize the knowledge of hydrangeas and old trees. It boasts some centuries-old trees that are worth visiting.

For instance, Wushan has a camphor tree planted during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and a 630-year-old cypress. Hidden in the lush vegetation of Dongyue Temple, two 530-year-old qiushu (楸树) bloom in spring, attracting a cavalcade of visitors every year.

Qiushu, whose scientific name is catalpa bungei, is a species of catalpa native to China. The flowers are arranged in a corymb and covered with pink spots.

Hiking along the footpath, tourists can reach the top of Wushan Hill and the Chenghuang Pavilion, which is considered as the best spot to get a panoramic view of the West Lake and the city. At night, the illuminated pavilion is a landmark of Hangzhou.

Chenghuang Pavilion, or the City God's Pavilion, is considered the epitome of the city's soul. The seven-story building is home to the past, present and future aspirations of Hangzhou.