Cherry blossoms at Yuyuantan Park.

By Wei Na

This winter was a tease - every hint of spring was torn from Beijingers' grasping fingers by harsh winds and late-season snow showers. Nature noticed. "It's almost one month late for the flowers in Beijing to blossom. Plants are slouchy on cold days too," Zhang Huijun, senior engineer of the Beijing Xiangshan Botanical Gardens told Lifestyle. "But there's not only a dark side. Some bulbous geophytes actually need lower temperatures to develop bigger buds. People can expect to see even more beautiful blossoms."

Cherry blossoms

1. This year's 12th Cherry Blossom Festival, with the theme "Hua Kai Ru Yi" (flowers blooming as you wish), will be held in Yuyuantan Park, as always. According to the management office, the park has about 2,000 cherry plants in 20 varieties, including sargentii and somei-yoshino imported from Japan, as well as Chinese-bred variants that are planted alongside the park's Ba Yi Lake.

The 25 hectares in the northwest section of the park are known as "The Cherry Garden," while in the northeastern corner, about 1,000 begonias are in feathery pink-and-white bloom.

For the 50th anniversary of Yuyuantan's foundation, they will have 5,000 small gifts to distribute to visitors.

Date: Until April 30

Hours: 6 am to 8:30 pm

Tel: 8865-3804/06

Address: No. 10 Middle-West Third Ring Road, Haidian District

Tickets: 10 yuan each

2. Escape the blossom-gawking hordes while still getting a great view of the cherries by perching in the Central TV Tower's revolving restaurant at 221 meters above ground (out of the tower's possible 405-meter height), directly across the street from Yuyuantan Park. The restaurant's third "Sakura Food Festival" is held during the same time as the blossom-viewing season, and offers traditional Japanese snacks, mochi with strawberries, and Japanese-style cold noodles (hiyashi soba).

Tel: 6845-0715

Address: No. 11 Middle-West Third Ring Road, Haidian District

Peach blossoms in Pinggu District.

Peach blossoms

1. For peach blossoms, head to Pinggu District, northeastern Beijing, where 220,000 acres of peach trees will be ready for viewing from April 17. There are seven viewing areas, each with varied terrains, such as in Xiaojin Shan, where you can climb up to a lookout pavilion, or Xiaoyuzi Village, where you can wander amid 10,000 acres of plants. Drive along Changjin Road in the Xinggong and Taohuayuan viewing areas with the windows down to try and catch a whiff of the blossoms, or stop off in Dahuashan Township, where fine crafts made from peach wood will be displayed during the festival.

According to Jia Yongyi of the Pinggu Tourism Administration, at Jinzuo Hotel tourists can take part in the taohua (peach blossom) banquet, including "over 100 dishes from Pinggu restaurants cooked specially with peach flowers and fruits."

Date: April 17 to May 7

Tel: 6196-1560 

Peach blossoms at Beijing Botanical Gardens.

2. The flowers will be in full bloom at Beijing Botanical Gardens this week. The mountain peach blossoms herald the official start of the Peach Blossom Festival, which has been running since 1981. Nearly 70 varieties of peach plants like the chrysanthemum, broom and weeping peach will bloom this month.

Not to limit itself, at the same time the garden will display a variety of spring flowers, including clove tree flowers, peonies, Chinese cherry-apples and more, for nearly 1,000 varieties of plants. Hopping on the low-carbon bandwagon, the park says it will provide water barrels at designated locations to reduce the usage of plastic bottles, and that staff will collect dead flowers and leaves to use as fertilizer.

Date: Until May 5

Tel: 6259-1283

Address: Wofusi Road, Fragrant Hills, Haidian District

Tickets: 10 yuan per adult, 5 yuan per child

Magnolia blossoms at Dajue Temple.

Magnolia blossoms

1. People have been going to Dajue Temple to drink tea under the magnolia trees in spring for over 200 years. Though there are only around five trees in the temple, its long history and the beauty of the blooms brought the temple fame. In Si Yi Hall, there is one 10-meter tall magnolia tree, over 350 years old, transplanted from Sichuan during the Qing Dynasty. The tree's massive crown still fills with white flowers that, at full bloom, are as big as a fist. This type of magnolia is called "er qiao yulan," or common magnolia grafted with lily magnolia; the flowers bloom in pink and white. The name comes from two sisters surnamed Qiao, who were famous for their looks during the Three Kingdoms period.

Date: April 15 to the end of the month

Address: No. 9 Xishan Dajuesi Road, Bei'anhe Village, Haidian District

Tel: 6245-6162

Tickets: 20 yuan each

 Magnolia blossoms at Tanzhe Temple.

2. Tanzhe Temple is located in Mentougou, south of Beijing city, and is locally famous as the place to see 400-year-old magnolia trees, planted during the Ming Dynasty. These trees are er qiao magnolias; compared to other, younger trees of the same kind, the Tanzhe Temple magnolias still boast impressively large blossoms every year.

According to the Tanzhe Park management office, the temple is surrounded by mountain peaks that block the cold wind from the north, creating the favorable warm and humid environment that has helped the trees to live so long.

The Magnolia Blossom Festival will be held in Tanzhe Temple on April 13, and a tea-tasting fair will also take place during the flower-viewing season.

Date: Starting April 13, for two weeks

Address: Tanzhe Mountain, Mentougou District

Tel: 6086-1699

Tickets: 55 yuan each