Chinese New Year flowers

Chinese New Year flowers (Enkianthus quinqueflorus Lour.) 吊钟花

This is one of the flowers traditionally brought into Chinese homes at the time of the Chinese New Year. Historically, it was extensively harvested from mountainous areas in southern China, where it is native, and brought to markets and sold as decoration for the holiday. Shenzhen’s Wutong Mountain grows nearly 10 hectares of Chinese New Year flowers (Enkianthus quinqueflorus Lour.). Being cultivated on the slopes of the mountain since 2016, the lovely trees with abundant clusters of pendent, chandelier-shaped pink flowers that blossom throughout the spring are members of the Ericaceae family and can be found only in mountainous areas at an altitude of 600 to 2,400 meters. The largest cluster of Chinese New Year flowers in Wutong Mountain is in the Enshang Wetland on the southern slope of the mountain. Photos by Wang Haolan