When Tunisian traveler Samar Kerkeni first arrived in Heze, a quiet city tucked away in East China's Shandong province, she expected to see peonies — the country's famed "king of flowers". What she didn't expect was to find them everywhere: on her plate, across her hotel walls, and even woven into the carpet beneath her feet.
"There are peony elements everywhere," said Kerkeni, who now lives in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.
But nothing compared to her first walk through Heze's sprawling flower fields.
"The real flowers are unlike anything I've seen — vast, colorful, so many shades flowing together. It's unbelievably beautiful," she said.
In China, the peony is more than a flower — it's a timeless emblem of grace, prosperity and national pride.
Tang Dynasty (618-907) poets revered peonies more than 1,000 years ago. Xu Ning asked, "Who doesn't love the peony?" while Liu Yuxi once declared, "Only the peony is the true beauty of the land."
That admiration still blooms today in Heze, officially crowned "peony capital of China" by the China Flower Association in 2012. With its mild climate and deep-rooted tradition, Heze has cultivated peonies for more than 1,500 years.
Today, the city boasts more than 1,300 registered varieties — a dazzling spectrum of pinks, whites, purples and reds, along with rarer greens, yellows and even blacks.
More than 1,000 of these varieties were developed by modern Heze growers, adding to 118 traditional types and a handful introduced from elsewhere.
At the Caozhou Baihua Garden, the heart of Heze's peony culture, visitors might spot 70-year-old agronomist Sun Wenhai carefully checking roots and petals. His family has spent decades breeding new varieties, transforming the flower's palette in unexpected ways.
One of Sun's creations, a delicate green peony named Lyu Mu Yin Yu (Green Curtain Hiding Jade), became a nationwide sensation after appearing in the hit costume drama Flourished Peony, which aired last year. Its petals open in a magical progression — from fresh green to cream, then finally pure white, as if a jade treasure is being revealed from behind a curtain.
Wandering deeper into the garden, visitors can find peony varieties that have survived since the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911), with their lineage stretching back centuries — a purple peony from the Qing era and a pink peony from the Ming era still swaying gently in the spring breeze.
"The pink one is more than 400 years old," Sun said. "Many of its branches once withered, but new shoots appeared in 2021, and this spring, it has bloomed again with over 100 flowers."
Heze cultivates both tree peonies (mudan) and herbaceous peonies (shaoyao). Tree varieties bloom first in early April, followed by herbaceous types a few weeks later — a rhythm that extends Heze's flower-viewing season into a monthlong celebration.
The city isn't just China's largest peony producer; it's also a place where peonies become part of everyday life. Here, peonies are more than just flowers — they're food, drink and even fashion. Visitors can taste salads sprinkled with fresh petals, sip floral teas brewed from peony stamens and enjoy pastries or wine infused with the essence of the blossoms.
This peony-infused lifestyle, in turn, fuels a thriving local economy. Each April, stamens harvested within 48 hours of pollen maturity are prized for tea. Peony seed oil soft capsules — rich in alpha-linolenic acid — are believed to lower blood lipids and boost immunity.
Meanwhile, beauty brands are turning peonies into skincare gold, with extracts from petals and root bark in moisturizers, serums and handmade soaps scented with the flower's natural fragrance.
Tourists have created their own tradition too — wearing fresh peony crowns. Sold for just 10 yuan ($1.45), each crown is made from a dozen blossoms in full bloom. "You wear one and feel like spring follows you everywhere," Kerkeni said with a smile.
