Camellia flowers come out in Tengchong

As spring approaches the northern hemisphere, the dazzling Camellia flowers have come out in the Hemu village, west Yunnan’s Tengchong city these days, forecasting the coming of the lovely season.

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, Start of Spring (Chinese: 立春), the first solar term of a year, begins on Feb 3 and ends on Feb 17 this year.

Located in a volcanic area, the Hemu village is home to over 40,000 camellia trees, 5,000 of which are aged at 200 to 800 years. While inviting in sightseers, the red flowers bear nutritious fruits, from which clear oil can be extracted.

Camellia is a genus of flowering plants found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas southeast to Vietnam and Indonesia. The flower is known as cháhuā in Chinese and hoa trà in Vietnamese. It is also the provincial flower of Yunnan.

Source: Tengchong Publicity Department; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue