Success Takes Root in Peony Capital

Women in qipao and other traditional costumes walk among the blossoms during a festival dedicated to mountain peonies in Luanchuan county of Luoyang, Henan province, in April. WANG ZHONGJU

Legend says the bloom, reviled by empress, found new life in Henan province; now it brings prosperity

It's said that Empress Wu Zetian of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the only empress in China's history, asked all flowers to blossom in winter in Chang'an, today's Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

All the flowers did, except for the peonies.

So the peonies were sent to Luoyang, Henan province, as punishment. They have rooted and sprouted in this city ever since.

In the past four decades since reform and opening-up began, the peony has become an ambassador linking the city to the world and has witnessed all the city's cultural and economic growth.

In 1983, the first edition of the Luoyang Peony Fair was held in Wangcheng Park, with huge public enthusiasm. More than 200,000 tickets were sold before the opening ceremony.

The peony fair has been held annually ever since. In 1991, the fair's name was changed to Henan Luoyang Peony Fair, and in 2008 it was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage－one of the youngest festivals on the list. Two years later, it was upgraded to the Peony Culture Festival of Luoyang China.

Wang Ruogu, deputy director of the Luoyang exhibition office, said the scale of the festival has grown from the first edition's 200 species and 20,000 individual plants into last year's 800 species and 130,000 plants.

Popular event

This year's festival, held from April 5 to May 5, attracted more than 26 million tourists and brought in total revenue of 24 billion yuan ($3.5 billion).

"The hotels are all full during the festival, and some tourists have to stay in Zhengzhou or other nearby cities," Wang said. "For us, the peony festival is not only a tourist event, but also a chance to boost economic growth."

Activities such as the 2018 International Ancient Capitals Forum and Luoyang International Robot & Intelligent Equipment Expo were held during this year's festival, which attracted a total investment of 90.4 billion yuan.

Located in Laocheng district, the first phase of Luoyi city officially opened during this year's peony festival.

Reflecting more than 800 years of history, the reconstructed city is planned to cover 91 hectares at a cost of 12.7 billion yuan.

Yang Shaochun, secretary of the CPC Luoyang Laocheng District Committee, says Luoyi is combining cultural tourism and peony-related industries to attract more visitors and revenue.

"People flooded into this scenic area to see the peonies in April. We don't charge an entrance fee, but we swipe their ID cards to control the number to avoid overcrowding," Yang said.

"We are cooperating with travel agencies, as they can bring tourists here to see the peonies during the day and eat and shop at night," Yang said. "We are also bringing in peony-related products, such as peony porcelain, peony tea and peony oil."

Art industry thrives

Named China's first peony-drawing village, Pingle village in Pingle town, Luoyang, is thriving on its art industry as it teaches villagers to paint.

The China Pingle Peony Drawing Culture Creative Industry Park was built in 2011. It includes a main building, 200 painting studios and 1.7 hectares of peony sketching area.

The building has a hall for drawing and teaching, and an e-commerce center to help farmer-painters sell their work online. Last year, the industry park sold more than 500,000 peony paintings.

Guo Sanlong, 62, a farmer-painter in Pingle, started to draw peonies part-time in the 1980s. His paintings were sold for 5 yuan each in the late 1990s, but now, a piece 50-by-50 centimeters is worth more than 200 yuan.

"It's because of the rise in prices and the improvement of my ability to draw," Guo said.

He has visited the peony festival each year since it started. In 2015, he began renting a booth to sell his paintings.

Guo rented a studio in the industry park in 2011. Now his daughter-in-law helps him frame his paintings, and his son is in charge of selling them online.

"My paintings have been sold to people in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and also sold abroad in Singapore and Japan," Guo said.

He has noticed the growing number of painters in his village in the past decade and feels the fierce competition between them.

"We have around 1,000 painters right now. Everyone likes peonies, so I just have to focus on my painting," Guo said.

According to Lu Yi, deputy director of Luoyang's tourism development commission, in the first nine months of 2018 Luoyang has received more than 99 million trips from home and abroad, and has earned a total income of 88 billion yuan.

"We are arranging a program called 'Understand Luoyang by Study Tour', through which we aim to attract more overseas students. They will learn about the long history of Luoyang," Lu said.

Local government role

Besides opening up and attracting more tourists, Luoyang's government also works to perfect benefits and services for residents.

"We are building our public service system by organizing more free performances, installing cable TV in the villages and building 100 study rooms to enrich people's cultural lives," said Zhang Yong, director of the city's media regulating agency.

Forty-five study rooms have sprung up since January, and more than 207,000 books have been collected, which people can read and borrow.

Zhang Hongyun, 96, would visit the study room 10 minutes away from his home two to three times a week. The room is fully booked most of the time, so Zhang often brings his own stool.

"It's not easy to find newspapers in the post office now, but it's convenient to come here," said Zhang, a retired middle school teacher.

"I come here to read international news. I can see that China has grown its international influence in many ways."