Xixi Huazhao Festival annually takes place from 2nd April to 11th May in spring at Xixi Wetland Park. For the Xixi Huazhao Exihibition, there are 12 different flower areas that have been separated and developed, which adds to the attractiveness of Xixi Wetland Park during the festival time in spring.
The 12 flower areas are successively named as, “the language of Chinese flowering crabapple”, “the charm of Viburnum”, “the idea of Cuckoo”, “the appeal of Peony”, “the aroma of Plum Blossom”, “the grace of Wisteria”, “the love of May Bloom”, “the appointment of Rose”, “the family of clematis”, “the dance of Sakura”, “the song of Lilac”, “the beauty of Lily”.
The Tradition of Xixi Huazhao Festival
“Huazhao” festival is traditionally named as “Flower Deity Festival” or” Birthday of Hundreds of Flowers”. Its popularity has spread across the North, North-East, and East and Mid-south part of China. It is mainly held on the 2nd of February annually according to the Chinese lunar calendar. Some Chinese people also celebrate this festival on the 12th and 15th of February. During the celebration time, people get together and visit flowers in the suburban areas. This is what Chinese people usually call “have an outing” in spring. According to the “Huazhao” customs, girls usually “go on their red tour”, which means, cut some colorful papers and stick them to the branches of flowers. In other regions of China, there are various sorts of customs of celebrations such as “Zhuang Shihua” and”Put Flower Lamps”.
In the old times, people in the southern region of China celebrate “Huazhao” Festival on 12th February. On that day, every family offers their sacrifices to the flower deity. Women cut their five-color papers and tie them on the flower tree. Another thing they will do is go to the temple of the flower deity and burn joss sticks. This is to pray for good luck and happiness. By the way, the flower deity differs each month. For example, the flower deity of January is Liu Menghui (the male main character in the novel “Peony Temple”, a famous novel published in Tang Dynasty), while the flower deity of February is Yang Guifei (a famous, beautiful and fat imperial concubine in Tang Dynasty).