"A sudden spring evening breeze triggers off thousands of pear blossoms."

This famous verse by Tang poet Cen Shen (AD 715-770) is an apt description of the 16th Pear Flower Festival of Panggezhuang, which kicked off this week in south Beijing's Daxing district in a 2,000-hectare pear orchard.

There are 40 species of pear trees and more than 30,000 of them are centuries-old ones.

The oldest is the Tribute Pear Tree dating back 418 years and so named because its fruit was once served as tributes to the Imperial Palace.

Aside from enjoying the pear blossom, visitors can also pick the fruit, watch folk performances, taste real farm food and buy agricultural products. Some of the farmyard restaurants even use pear flowers as a major ingredient in their dishes.

(China Daily April 17, 2009)