Chapter 19 Peonies The Peony is the National Flower of China. The Peony Festival is held in Luoyang from April 5 to May 5. It began in 1982. People from all over China and the world come to Luoyang during that time to see the beautiful peonies in Luoyang. It is not unusual to have up to a million people and more come to Luoyang during a weekend. Part of this festival is having Chinese performers come to sing at the Peony Festival Performance. There is one night during April when they would perform in the stadium in front of thousands of people. As you will see in the pictures, the flowers are very colorful. There are many more colors than what I have shown here. There are hundreds of thousands of peonies throughout the parks in Luoyang. During the Peony Festival, the parks charge a fee to get in but it isn’t much. Also in the pictures, you can see some of my friends by the flowers and see how tall some of the plants are. Zhang Xufang, Huang Guoqin and her daughter Cindy (Guan Xin) Some...
Rick Mundt (1950-2024) lived in the La Crosse WI area and spent 5 years in China teaching English at Luoyang Foreign Language Schools. He embraced the opportunity to meet people and learn about the culture. After his return, Rick worked on a journal with 9000 photos of his experience. With over 150 chapters, we will share weekly his experiences and the friendships he made.