More than 600 off-season potted lotus carefully cultivated by local horticulturists in Zhuhai have been presented to Macao as gifts.

The potted lotus, which will be placed on the streets and alleys of Macao, will blossom on December 20 when the city returns to China, according to Dr. Cheng Ping of the Zhuhai Agricultural Science Center.

Cheng, who led the cultivation of the plants, spent months making repeated experiments with more than 130 lotus varieties brought in from Wuhan and Beijing, along with a dozen other researchers, and achieved success on November 21 when the first lotus blossomed.

In the following days, 67 potted lotus of many varieties blossomed. A panel of horticulture experts from Guangdong Province believe that the cultivating technology used to breed the off-season potted lotus meets international standards.

The lotus, which blossoms usually in summer, has been chosen as the regional flower of the Macao Special Administrative Region.