[Photo from zhiyou.co]

Pingle is China’s first peony painting village. It’s located in Mengjin county, Luoyang city, Henan province. It’s the starting point of the ancient Silk Road and is adjacent to Baima Temple to the south and the ancient emperor tomb clusters to the north. The village is steeped in historical culture and has developed peony plantations, appreciation, poems and paintings since the Sui (AD 581-618) and Tang (AD 618-907) dynasties. At the moment, there are more than 700 people engaged in creating peony paintings, and many of their works have won awards in China and abroad. It was called China’s first peony painting village by government officials.

In 2009, the village raised 10 million yuan to build a rural peony painting creation park, striving to develop cultural tourism business. The park covers an area of more than 60,000 square meters and has 138 buildings for artists to make creations. It also has a 4,600-square-meter themed art museum featuring peony painting, Yellow River rare stones and stone sculptures. The museum also has a tourist experience zone, a cultural art trade platform for peony porcelain, tri-colored glazed pottery of the Tang Dynasty, bronze ware, stone paintings, and a 16,666-square-meter peony sightseeing garden. The park has a beautiful environment, sound facilities and services. It was called the first of the local five golden flowers.