Baleng crabapple is actually a plant of the apple subfamily. It has another name called Huailai crabapple. This nickname is really clear at a glance, because Zhangjiakou Huailai is the largest producing area of Baleng crabapple in China. From the geographical coordinates, it is called "Begonia original Township", especially Xiaonan Xinbao Town has a history of more than 600 years of crabapple planting, and the heritage of crabapple culture is particularly profound.
Thinking of Tang Dynasty poet Li Shen’s poem on Begonia, he praised, “The beautiful trees on the seaside are so colorful that they are known to be planted by immortals. Qiongrui’s native place is Langyuan, and Penglai is seen on the picture of Zizhi.” In Chinese legends, Begonia is known as It is a fairy tree, so "knowing that it was a fairy who planted it", and the octagonal crabapple among them is regarded as a treasure among the crabapples. Its flowers are famous for their natural and elegant, beautiful and refined.
Blooming in April also depends on the weather. Beijing's eight-lensed crabapple blooms first from the beginning to the middle of this month, while its Yuanxiang Huailai blooms successively from the end of April to the beginning of May. When the Octagonal Begonia first blooms, it looks like a little bit of rouge, with egg-yellow stamens wrapped in the petals, showing a little shyness. After fully blooming, the color gradually becomes lighter, like pink clouds and white snow, charming and charming.
When the Octagonal Begonia flowers are in full bloom, the color gradually turns pale white, and the whole tree has multiple petals, densely layered, and the lush leaves and branches complement each other softly, making it even more beautiful and refined.
Octagonal Begonia has a unique and elegant fragrance, like a table of green tea, the taste is light and elegant, and the unique fragrance is also melodious. The fruit of this kind of crabapple is bright red in color, thin in skin and juicy, sweet and sour, and crisp. It is called the treasure of crabapple fruit. If you look closely, there are obvious octagonal ridges around the fruit. It is said that this is to thank the Penglai Eight Immortals for their kindness.
According to local mythology, the Eight Immortals of Penglai traveled to a mountain forest west of Huailai, which is called Jimingyi Mountain. It was late spring, Lu Dongbin of the Eight Immortals suggested that you take a rest and visit below for a while, so the Eight Immortals entered a forest of crabapple flowers after they came down to earth. However, this flower has no fragrance, so Lan Caihe wrote a poem and stretched out his hand to lift the flower basket, blurring an arc around the tree. In an instant, the petals danced like snow with the wind, and the air was filled with a sweet and strange fragrance.
Later, people discovered that the crabapple here not only has a unique aroma, but also has a unique autumn fruit, which is flat and has obvious eight-edged ridges around it, so it was named "Eight-lensed Begonia". And because the main producing area of Baleng Begonia is in Huailai, it is also called Huailai Begonia.
In mid-April this year, the eight-lensed crabapple in Huailai gradually bloomed. On April 21, the 11th Huailai Begonia Flower Festival also opened with the flowers. This is a traditional flower viewing season in Zhangjiakou Huailai. During this season, the million-acre crabapple in Xiaonan Xinbao Town "is a little shy with rouge, and layers of powder are blooming." This year's Begonia Flower Festival will start from April 21st to May 7th, a period of 17 days.
In recent years, with the support of all walks of life, Zhangjiakou Huailai has successfully held ten consecutive Begonia Flower Festivals. Based on the Begonia Flower Festival, it has continuously integrated resources and gradually formed the The Great Wall, tasting manor red wine, and watching the wonders of the sky and desert are characteristic ecotourism routes, and these have also become unique local resources in Huailai.
The "May 1st" Golden Week holiday every year coincides with the Huailai Begonia Flower Festival. A large number of self-driving tourists, mainly from Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, come to Donghuayuan Town, Xiaonan Xinbao Town, and Guanting Town to enjoy the scenery and flowers around the lake. Especially in Xiaonan Xinbao Town and the surrounding Donghuayuan Town, nearly 10,000 tourists are received every day, which also drives the business of surrounding scenic spots, hotels and farm restaurants. In recent years, nearly 100,000 tourists have been received every year during the Huailai Begonia Flower Festival, which shows the charm of the sea of octopus crabapple flowers!
【Self-driving or bus line information】
Name of Huailai Begonia Flower Scenic Area: Shanggu · Begonia Garden
Address of Huailai Begonia Flower Festival: Xiaonan Xinbao Town, Huailai County, Zhangjiakou
Self-driving route: Beijing/Zhangjiakou direction: navigation search [Country Garden Guanting Lake]
Take G6 Beijing-Tibet Expressway → X415 → Kangqi Highway → arrive at [Country Garden·Guanting Lake], enter the parking lot, and walk 200 meters to reach [Shanggu·Begonia Garden] scenic spot.
Bus line: Take Beijing No. 880 and get off at [Country Garden] station in Xiaonan Xinbao Town, Huailai County.
