The Best Season for Blossom Appreciation Dawns Upon Ginkgo Valley in Qingliang Hill

Source: Quanjing

Qingliangshan Park features the largest ginkgo grove inside the City of Nanjing. The ginkgo grove’s color is changing and getting ready to welcome tourists from all over the world with its beautiful appearance. Between November 3rd and December 3rd, the 3rd Qingliang Hill Ginkgo Valley Tourism Cultural Festival will carry the theme of “Interesting - in Ginkgo Valley”.

Ginkgo Valley is mesmerizing in autumn. When you walk into the park and stroll 2-3 minutes along the Sweeping Leaf Pavilion up the mountain path, you will have a good view of the ginkgo grove glistening and shimmering in the sun. There are more 300 ginkgo trees in the entire Ginkgo Valley, with each one of them being around 60 years ago, 20 meters tall on average, and 50 cm in diameter.

“Since Ginkgo Valley is located in one flat area of the park, the whole ginkgo grove will be covered with golden ginkgo leaves if there are enough fallen leaves. The layer of leaves is like a carpet made by God, which enchants everyone who comes here. It is predicted that the Ginkgo Valley will roll into its best appreciating season in the middle of the month (November).” Zhang Yamin, the person in charge of the Garden View and Image Department of Qingliangshan Park, says that the change of color of ginkgo leaves has so much to do with the location where they grow, the change of environment and sunlight conditions, the condition of each ginkgo tree, the change of climate, and other factors. After "Frost" (late October) and as the weather becomes cold, chlorophyll declines in density, moves to the trunk of the tree and finally to the root of it for storage. Then carotenoids and lutein begin to take over. Therefore, the orange or yellow color appears. This is the main reason why ginkgo leaves turn yellow.

On November 3rd, the 3rd Qingliang Hill Ginkgo Valley Tourism Cultural Festival’s theme of “Interesting - in Ginkgo Valley” officially began. During this cultural festival, the park administration will hold a series of activities, which will periodically and rhythmically push the festival to waves of climaxes of ginkgo appreciation. In addition, ginkgo-themed Chinese calligraphic and ginkgo bonsai exhibitions will also be held at the Li Jianchen Art Museum.

In addition, the children’s exploration activity held during the "Interesting - in Ginkgo Valley" will bring the children attending kindergarten to nature to explore the secrets of ginkgo leaves and fruit. Children who like writing may also write short essays to participate in the children’s essay competition on ginkgo.

Those who regard photography as a hobby can join the photography lecture or the mobile photography contest. The park administration will also invite professional photographers to teach the citizens and tourists the mobile landscape photo-taking tips and tricks, and prepare awards and assess the outstanding works. On the second floor of the Li Jianchen Art Museum, the “Rhyme of Cool Autumn” Yuhua Stone (a kind of beautiful agate stone) fine item exhibition will be held too, and the exhibition will expose the charms of autumn using the Nanjing-featured Yuhua Stone. In addition, the ginkgo health care product exhibition, the food exhibition, blessing belts, succulent plant sale, the Cultural and Creative Products Competition of the Ginkgo Valley Cultural Festival, and other splendid events will also be synchronized.