Mark Gibson

Peonies

Posted on May 5th, 2007 by mark.
Categories: General News, Travelogue, China 2007.

Our next trip was to see the Peonies in Luoyang the other option was a trip to Bai Si and yet another temple was more than I could manage so we settled for the gentler option of the peony gardens. Now the only thing I knew about peonies was that they were probably a flower, however I was to find out they were the national flower of China and the gardens of Luoyang was the place to come. As we passed through the entrance the wilted offerings protected under netting was a little uninspiring but I hung in there as there wasn’t a temple in sight. We passed through the initial collection of buildings past what look to be a great collection of vividly coloured flowers showing all of the many varieties of peony, however these turned out to be plastic! We soldiered on through what looked to be the back yard which turned out to be a large expanse of land with as many varieties of peony as you would ever want to see, with scenic bridges and pagodas to sit in out of the sun, there was even a large fake waterfall to frolic in if the mood took you. After a peaceful hour it was time to head back to ZhengZhou and our Hotel for the night.

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