In March of this year, a horticultural and flower exchange association in Europe friendly to our country held a flower selection event for the flower that best represents China's national image. Over three months, staff visited nearly 20 countries across Europe and the Americas and more than 10,000 foreign friends, selecting 10 flowers that can represent China's national image from over 100 kinds of flowers. The 10 selected flowers also won the approval of 60% of our country's netizens. Let's take a look.

Tenth Place: Plum Blossom

The plum blossom's resolute and noble character is a symbol of the Chinese people, able to uphold integrity and stand for justice even in difficult circumstances. In his poem "Ode to the Plum Blossom," Chairman Mao compared the plum blossom to martyrs who gave their lives for the country.

Plum Blossom Braving the Snow

Ninth Place: Peony

The peony, the "king of flowers," was Empress Wu Zetian's favorite flower. In the late Qing Dynasty it was designated the national flower, and in February 1985 it was rated second among China's top ten famous flowers. As a flower unique to our country, it spread across the world via the ancient Silk Road during the Tang Dynasty, and is now cultivated everywhere around the world.

National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance

Eighth Place: Chrysanthemum

Third among China's top ten famous flowers, and also one of the world-famous four major cut flowers. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, it was introduced to Europe by the Dutch, and it is now widely cultivated all over the world.

Chrysanthemum

Seventh Place: Chinese Rose

Truly worthy of the name "queen of flowers," it blooms in all four seasons and has extremely strong ornamental value. Through the careful cultivation of gardeners worldwide, it has developed to more than ten thousand varieties. The people of our country especially love the Chinese rose; 52 cities have designated it as their city flower, including Beijing.

Chinese Rose Resembles a Rose

Sixth Place: Azalea

The pride of Yunnan, a national treasure of China. The value of the azalea in gardens can be seen in the imperial garden, the Summer Palace. In the 19th century, Western royalty repeatedly sent people to China's Yunnan to collect and take away more than 3,000 kinds of specimens and seedlings.

Mountain Azalea

Fifth Place: Lotus

Our country began cultivating it as early as the Zhou Dynasty. It can be enjoyed for its beauty, eaten, and used as medicine; the whole plant is a treasure. Its noble character, "emerging from the mud unstained, bathed in clear water without being seductive," has also been one of the themes of literati through the ages.

Lotus

Fourth Place: Camellia

One of the world's precious flowers, native to our country, and a traditional precious ornamental flower and tree of China. During the High Tang period, it was introduced from our country to Japan and Korea, and it is planted all over the world. Today's camellias number more than 2,000 varieties.

Camellia

Third Place: Osmanthus

One of our country's traditional precious flowers and trees, an excellent tree species that combines beautification, fragrance, and greening with both ornamental and practical value. It is planted in every part of our country, and around August each year, the fragrance of osmanthus fills the streets. Among ancient and modern poems praising flowers, the number of works praising osmanthus ranks among the highest, and people like to compare osmanthus to a person who influences others.

Osmanthus

Second Place: Narcissus

A traditional ornamental flower of our country, placed every year on the tables in front of the audience seating at the Spring Festival Gala. It has a cultivation history of more than 1,000 years in our country, with Zhangzhou narcissus being especially famous.

Narcissus

First Place: Orchid

In human history, our ancestors were the first people to dig up, grow, and cultivate orchids, a history that now spans more than a thousand years. The orchid is one of our country's most important flowers and has been rated among China's top ten famous flowers. In 1962, our beloved Premier Zhou presented a pot of "Huanqiu Heding" orchid to the renowned Japanese figure Kenzo Matsumura.

Orchid

Fellow flower lovers, if you have other questions about the flower that best represents China, you are welcome to leave a comment.