Luohan Mountain’s oriental cherry blossoms draw thousands

This year' s oriental cherry art festival in Guangzhou kicked off at Luohan Mountain in Dagang town of Nansha district on March 17.

More than 300 oriental cherry trees and nearly a hundred potted bonsai trees, as well as various cultural performances, attracted more than 1,000 local and foreign tourists.

Beautiful oriental cherry in the garden [Photo by Liu Wei/gznsnews.com.cn]

 "We are from Ukraine and are engaged in the art performing industry in Guangzhou," said a Ukrainian woman as she took pictures under the cherry trees. "I didn't expect to have such large cherry blossoms here. You see I am wearing traditional Chinese costume."

Enchanted in the intoxicating atmosphere of the cherry blossoms, the Ukrainian visitors took selfies with Chinese tourists. A local resident surnamed Lin said that the 40-minute drive was no obstacle to her enjoying the cherry blossom.

A Ukrainian woman takes self-portraits with Chinese tourists. [Photo by Liuwei /gznsnews.com.cn]

Opposite the oriental cherry garden is a bonsai art exhibition. Nearly a hundred bonsais, such as Shansong, Jiulixiang and Hongguo are arranged along a square at the top of the mountain. They are all excellent examples cultivated by locals.

"I have six bonsai exhibits this time. You see, these are mine!" said a resident surnamed Huang. "I used to do machinery work, and after retirement, I became interested in bonsai art. The bonsai art shows the beauty of form and conception. "

As early as 1975, Dagang had a group of people interested in researching bonsai. For over 40 years, more than 200 local people have been engaged in bonsai art. The largest collection of bonsai covers more than four hectares of land, and the plants are sold to Guangzhou and surrounding cities and even overseas, with an annual output value of about 60 million yuan ($8.94 million).