Befriend in the name of Chrysanthemum

nihao: Xiaolan is not an ideal area to grow chrysanthemum, but how is it famous for chrysanthemum?

Mai: Since Ming Dynasty, Xiaolan has had an Expo specially for chrysanthemum. According to the historical documents we've looked up to, only in Kaifeng, in Northern Song Dynasty, there was an Expo of chrysanthemum. So we believe this kind of Expo of Chrysanthemum in Xiaolan was learnt from Central China. During Ming and Qing Dynasty, many people in Xiaolan were working as offi cers in the government or traveling as businessmen.One third of people in Daxiangshan county were successful people or celebrities, and thus their burden of tax took up also one third of the total. These people brought advanced culture back to Xiaolan. Those who were running business also took some chrysanthemum from Central China back with them, since the scholars were very in love with chrysanthemum. It was said that in ancient time, Xiaolan was full of yellow chrysanthemums in autumn. It's a very beautiful saying. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, chrysanthemum from Xiaolan had a good reputation, which was literally recorded into some historical documents. But we think that the reputation of Xiaolan was not because of the quantity of chrysanthemum, but the art of growing the fl owers, the Expo of chrysanthemum and the culture of chrysanthemum. Like growing chrysanthemum, enjoying chrysanthemum and eating chrysanthemum have all been customs in Xiaolan.

nihao: In the sense of technique, what's the advantage of Xiaolan?

Mai: The art of growing chrysanthemum can be divided into the southern and northern styles. The innovation of Xiaolan is mostly shown in growing huge standing chrysanthemum. There can be hundreds and thousands of blossoms on one single standing chrysanthemum stem. Furthermore, there has been some documents about this kind of technique since Qing Dynasty. At that time, there were hundreds of blossoms on one stem, while now, we have an Guinness Record that more than 8000 chrysanthemum blossoms can be growing at the same time on one stem. The development of this technique is related to the climate in south of China. Chrysanthemum normally grows very quickly and then withers and falls also in a short time. In Xiaolan, it takes 18-21 months to grow and cultivate chrysanthemum. People know how to lengthen its life by alternating the light. The longer it lives, the more blossoms it can grow. It's impossible to realize in north of China, for normally it is planted in March and blossoms in October, which cannot endure the winter.

nihao: How can the art of chrysanthemum in Xiaolan stay its vitality for such a long time since the ancient time?

Mai: In Xiaolan, besides that people all love chrysanthemum and grow chrysanthemum, there are also many organizations. In order to assist the annual grand Expo of Chrysanthemum, there are some special bases for chrysanthemum researching, cultivating and teaching the traditional art of growing chrysanthemum. So it's the collective contribution to protect the art and the culture of chrysanthemum. Because growing the huge standing chrysanthemum takes a long time, which is not very profi table. If we just choose a more commercial way to plant and grow chrysanthemum, we may loose our techniques and the reputation of the Chrysanthemum Expo. In a short, we are not going to sell chrysanthemum, we just sell the Expo culture.