综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
China
Home / China / Society

Heady scent of wintersweet beckons all this season

By Deng Zhangyu | China Daily | Updated: 2026-01-21 07:14
Share
Share - WeChat
Students from a primary school in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, play in the snow on Tuesday, which also marked the start of the Chinese solar term Major Cold this year. TANG YI/XINHUA

However, there is an amusing twist to the ancient tradition of winter blossom viewing. Some might have been celebrating an entirely different flower all along. The blossoms they admired were very likely the pink plum flowers that bloom later in early spring, not the waxy yellow wintersweet.

Li Qingwei, a professor at Beijing Forestry University, recently explained in a popular science video that wintersweet and plum blossoms, both called mei in Chinese, bloom around the same time and smell similar, leading flower lovers to group them together.

However, plum blossoms, academically known as Prunus mume, are pink and bloom from March to April. Wintersweet, with its yellow petals, is the true "cold-resistant warrior" of winter and is scientifically named Chimonanthus praecox.

Wintersweet's petals are covered in a waxy "down coat" that can withstand temperatures as low as — 10 C, which is why ancient poets extolled its noble and resilient spirit amid frost and snow.

Li notes that among more than 170 wintersweet varieties worldwide, the majority are found in China, which leads the way in cultivar registration.

In Chinese tradition, wintersweet’s five petals symbolize the “Five Blessings”: happiness, prosperity, longevity, ease, and peace. Blooming around the Chinese New Year, the plant is a popular festive flower and can be found in local flower markets.

People often cut stems of wintersweet to display in vases at home, enjoying its delicate fragrance and auspicious symbolism.

But be warned: wintersweet dislikes warmth! At temperatures of around 20 degrees Celsius, its petals may wither, so it is best appreciated in the cold. Better still, step outdoors and enjoy a walk filled with fragrance and beauty.

|<< Previous 1 2 3   
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1994 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
 
桦南县| 漳平市| 汾阳市| 安阳县| 新郑市| 兴业县| 饶平县| 永善县| 盖州市| 三门县| 延吉市| 阳东县| 京山县| 进贤县| 隆尧县| 宣汉县| 金山区| 东乡族自治县| 永兴县| 抚顺市| 县级市| 贵州省| 彰化市| 沅江市| 宝鸡市| 鸡泽县| 龙海市| 临澧县| 五家渠市| 宁津县| 双牌县| 祥云县| 惠水县| 府谷县| 深水埗区| 赫章县| 睢宁县| 惠来县| 保定市| 建宁县| 华宁县|