A boy is trying to make a bonsai at the competition.

By Keqiao Cheng, EDITOR

Chongqing - Flowers and trees of the town of Jingguan Chongqing are popular. Residents here have planted flowers since the Southern Song Dynasty (1127–1279 A.D.). The village boasts 10,000 mu of wintersweets, famous at home and abroad. Also, as the only “home of wintersweets” in China, Jingguan has a planting history of over 500 years.

Flower arrangement competition

A participant is arranging flowers in a jar.

On the morning of January 13, the first “Jingguan Cup” Chinese Traditional Flower Arrangement Competition ended successfully.

The competition had professional and amateur divisions, attracting 32 professional players and over 100 amateurs from 16 cities in China. Many children also participated.

All the players, both the professional and amateur, added to the charm of the blooming wintersweets in Jingguan Village.

The competition attracted a lot of participants.

On the competition site, all the players were concentrating on arranging the flowers and branches. It seemed that they had revitalized the wintersweets, chrysanthemums, and sunflowers. And the artworks were lively like active rabbits or as graceful as a fairy.

Mr. Feng arrived in Chongqing from Xi’an to participate in the competition, with his work called “Blooming Wintersweet”. He said, “As the Spring Festival is coming, I hope all the Chinese could get together and enjoy harmonious life.”

Wintersweet liquor

A woman is picking wintersweets off the branches. (photo courtesy of Xinhua News)

The wintersweet cultivation of Jingguan, Beibei District, has a time-honored history.

The wintersweet liquor (photo courtesy of Xinhua News)

In winter, as the wintersweets are in full bloom, the locals also improve the added value by brewing wintersweet liquor.

Flower growers are selecting the wintersweets for brewing. (photo courtesy of Xinhua News)

The brewing process includes fermentation, separation, clarification, mixing wine base, storage, purification and filtration, seasoning and finalizing the taste, etc. The liquor enjoys the fragrant smell and sweet and mellow taste.

Source: CQCB