The 44th Chrysanthemum Cultural Festival in Kaifeng, China, kicks off with 3.3 million pots of chrysanthemums filling the streets with their fragrance

China News Service, Kaifeng, October 18th (Jing Xiaojia) On October 17th, with the release of the theme promotional video "Song Rhyme in Kaifeng, Chrysanthemum in China", the 44th Chrysanthemum Culture Festival in Kaifeng, China opened online. Guests and friends from all over the world are sincerely invited to gather in Kaifeng, the "Famous Chrysanthemum City in China", to immerse themselves in the autumn romance of the thousand-year-old ancient capital and the vitality of the times.

Kaifeng, known as Bianliang and Tokyo in ancient times, has a history of chrysanthemum planting dating back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and is known as "Kaifeng's best chrysanthemum in the world". This year's Chrysanthemum Cultural Festival has the theme of "Song Dynasty Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Fragrance China". 3.3 million pots of chrysanthemums are displayed throughout the city, truly realizing that "everywhere you enter the city, you can see chrysanthemums and every step you take is a scene."

The picture shows the launch ceremony scene. Photo by Jing Xiaojia

At 20 o'clock that night, the chrysanthemum appreciation launching ceremony of the Chrysanthemum Cultural Festival was held in Longting Scenic Area. In the Song Dynasty Scenario Art Exhibition, the instrumental dance "Song Dynasty Chrysanthemum Dance Bianliang Love" reproduces the elegance of the ancient charm of Bianliang, "Hairpin Flowers Chasing Lanterns to Appreciate Autumn Chrysanthemums" interprets the unique autumn romance of the Song Dynasty, the martial arts dance "Golden Chrysanthemums Shine in Song Dynasty" highlights the vigorous vitality of the chrysanthemum city, and the finale song and dance "Another Year of Chrysanthemum Fragrance" sings the glory of the golden autumn of Song Dynasty.

Compared with previous editions, this year's Chrysanthemum Culture Festival emphasizes "playable" and "sense" in addition to "visible". The Longting Scenic Area has launched the "Imperial Garden Hairpin Flowers·Song Hanfu Award", where tourists can wear Song Dynasty Hanfu and walk through the Chrysanthemum Sea; the immersive scripted tour "Palace Joy Club" jointly created by the two parks allows tourists to travel through Longting and Tianbo Yang Mansion, unlocking multiple ways of studying literature and history, Song-style elegance, and physical fitness. There are four poetry check-in points in the Dantai Palace of Shanghe Garden during the Qingming Festival, where NPCs transform into poets from the Song Dynasty and recite elegant poems; the Wansui Mountain Martial Arts City takes "Chrysanthemum Dream Folding and All-Things Rivers and Lakes" as the core to create a multi-dimensional chrysanthemum dream of rivers and lakes; the China Hanyuan Forest of Steles integrates calligraphy, Song-style tea ordering, flower arrangement, gold brick calligraphy practice, cultural NPC interaction, calligraphy charity classes and music and dance performances, and is equipped with a national trend market to create a cultural immersion atmosphere in the garden.

This Chrysanthemum Cultural Festival focuses on planning a series of special economic, trade and cultural activities such as the 2026 Kaifeng Industrial Investment Cooperation and Exchange Conference, the 2026 China Automobile Supply Chain Conference, the 2026 "Buy in China and Enjoy Kaifeng" Autumn Consumer Festival and the 3rd Import and Export Commodity Fair, using flowers as a medium to connect cultural tourism consumption and economic and trade cooperation.

In addition, the Kaifeng Municipal Library also launched the book launch conference of "Tokyo Menghua·Juxiang Songyun - I Wrote a Poem for Kaifeng" and the exhibition of ancient books and documents on Su Dongpo's life and officials; the Kaifeng Municipal Museum launched the "Tracing Materia Medica·Juxiang" "Enter" herbal cultural experience, "Chrysanthemum Appreciation, Printing Chrysanthemums" New Year picture printing and other interactive projects; Kaifeng Municipal Cultural Center holds "Golden Autumn Chrysanthemum Light and Shadow Kaifeng" photography collection, intangible cultural heritage market Chrysanthemum Culture Festival special and other cultural activities to benefit the people.

The picture shows the launch ceremony scene. Photo by Jing Xiaojia

Zhou Dongke, member of the Standing Committee of the Kaifeng Municipal Party Committee and executive deputy mayor, said in his speech that in recent years, Kaifeng has insisted on building the cultural tourism industry into a pillar industry, people's livelihood industry, and happiness industry, and has made every effort to build an international cultural tourism city. Qingming Riverside Garden and Long live Mountain Martial Arts City are firmly on the list of popular scenic spots in the country, and the city brand of "One City with Song Rhythm and Tokyo Menghua" is even more resounding.

This Chrysanthemum Culture Festival is hosted by the Henan Provincial People's Government and co-organized by the Chinese Landscape Architecture Society, the Henan Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the Kaifeng Municipal People's Government. The festival will last until November 17. (over)