Boating on a lake filled with blooming lotus is a celebrated and romantic summer pastime in China, and love is really in bloom for the Lotus Appreciation Festival tomorrow.
According to legend, it is the birthday of the Lotus Fairy.
The festival known as Guan Lian Jie (literally "watching lotus festival") is a tradition prevailing in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
It is usually celebrated on the 24th day of the sixth month in Chinese lunar calendar, which falls tomorrow.
People stroll around lakes of lotus and boats ply the waters of lotus-filled lakes.
At night, lotus-shaped lanterns are set afloat, expressing wishes for good fortune. Dishes made of lotus seeds, flour, roots and petals are traditional, as is lotus-flower wine.
The tradition is carried on in some Shanghai parks and is romantic for young people.
The Lotus Appreciation Festival is widely considered to be the birthday of the Lotus Fairy. It is believed that each month in the Chinese lunar calendar, a particular flower blooms. A flower fairy born that month is "on duty," governing the blossoming and withering of flowers. The sixth lunar month is the time of the Lotus Fairy.
Another legend suggests that the Lotus Fairy is actually Xi Shi, one of the Four Great Beauties in Chinese history who sacrificed herself to aid her kingdom of Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period (BC 770-467).
The story goes that she was a simple girl picking lotus seeds and she was exceptionally beautiful. She was singled out and sent as a concubine to the King of Wu in order to sap his will and weaken his kingdom.
The king could not resist, he neglected his kingdom and it was conquered. Xi was said to be so beautiful that when she leaned over a pond to admire the carp, the fish were so dazzled by her beauty that they forgot to swim and sank to the bottom.
After the kingdom fell, Xi was sent back to the King of Wu but the queen was jealous and ordered her killed. She was tied to a rock and thrown into a lake. People said she became the immortal Lotus Fairy, lived on a small island and joined the lotus seed-picking girls every summer.
The festival was once a big day in Jiaxing in Zhejiang Province during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the Republic of China (1912-1949). Hundreds of boats were available for free lotus appreciation. Thousands of lotus lanterns floated on Nanhu Lake at night and lakeside restaurants served drinks and meals, accompanied by performances of local opera.
On the festival lotus dishes include lotus seed congee, steamed rice wrapped in lotus leaves and steamed cakes made of lotus petals and flour.
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