The 2015 Jiangnan (south of Yangtze River) peony cultural festival kicked off at the Yuanhuayuan Villa in Liuhe town, Taicang, on April 11. The Jiangsu-based festival attracted more than 5,000 visitors from local and neighboring cities.

Some 40,000 peony flowers are expected to be in full bloom at the villa within one or two weeks. Cartoon figures standing at the entrance of the villa attracted attention from children and a row of colorful wind chimes offered visitors a tranquil experience.

Many visitors were fascinated by the fields of colorful peony flowers. One such visitor from Shanghai, surnamed Gu, said that she frequents the festival every year and that it never fails to provide her with a different experience.

Several girls wore traditional Chinese costumes at the festival and posed for photos in front of statues of Li Bai, a prominent poet of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and Yang Yuhuan, one of the Four Beauties of Ancient China. The scene gave people the impression that they had been transported back to ancient times.

Aside from striking flowers and pinwheels, the festival highlighted a root carving handicraft, which has more than 1,000 monkeys of different sizes and postures carved into the root of a 600-year-old camphor tree. The piece is 6.8 m high, weighs three tons and took eight months for the national carving master Xie Tingmin and his colleagues to complete.

The festival runs until May 11 and includes activities such as a children's graffiti contest, photography contest and live CS.

Edited by Jacob Hooson