"Rose economy" blooming in Mentougou District

Do yoga among roses blooming in the wind; hold a wedding among thousands of roses and experience being a flower farmer on a rose farm that covers 10,000 mu. The Miaofeng Mountain in Mentougou District, which was silent in previous years, has been bustling this summer. "Previously, only the rose dealers came here, but this year large quantities of visitors have flooded onto Miaofeng Mountain." Du Wenqing, a flower farmer who set up a country inn in Jiangou Village of Miaofengshan Town, was radiant with joy. At first, Chinese medicine dealers, and food and cosmetics factories wanted these roses planted on the mountain, and later products that used roses such as rose essential oil, rose jam and rose wine were warmly welcomed by visitors that came to the mountain for a visit and to pick roses. Then 1,000 yoga fans exercised among the roses, and some young people even held weddings in the rose park.

A wedding held in the rose park

Picking roses

Handmade rose jam

At present, a "rose economy" with the rose industry as the foundation is blooming silently in western Beijing's Mentougou District.

Extracting the essential oils from a rose

Rose tours are getting more popular

In June, during the early summer, throughout the Miaofeng Mountain’s rose park’s 10,000 mu the image of a beautiful pastoral life is clearly evident: spread all over the mountains, purple roses were in bloom; the scent coming with the wind was mentally refreshing; birds’ merry songs were heard; and flower farmers busied themselves picking roses.

The image of a beautiful rose is always connected with love. “We will never part with each other in spite of disease, poverty or death, and our hearts will go on forever.” Days ago, several lovers from Beijing gathered in Miaofeng Mountain’s rose valley to take an oath of love, swearing a romantic and solemn “rose oath” among roses that symbolize love. “It is very romantic to hold weddings here,” said several couples who had just finished the oath. “There are blooming roses here and there, and we will definitely hold our wedding here.”

“Rose has been connected with the theme of ‘love’ through cultural innovation, and characteristic tours were launched to push local tourism ahead.” According to the organizer of the oath-taking activity, the Mentougou tourism authorities are working hard to build the traditional rose plantations into “the most romantic scenic spots” in Beijing. Since 2009, many wedding service companies have contacted scenic spots, expressing their hope to hold weddings and activities at the rose valley. On a single day, there was once as many as several dozen couples taking pre-wedding photos on the mountain.

Blending cultural innovation with the rose, Mentougou District renovated many traditional rose plantations, built countryside roads, lanes for enjoying flowers and other kinds of tourism facilities. Scenic spots such as the Miaofeng Mountain rose park, the rose valley, and Yangshan rose tourism park were built and launched tourism activities such as “being a flower farmer for one day,” “learning how to make rose jam”, learning how to pick roses and tasting rose tea. Additionally, Mentougou District also allowed an outdoor yoga center into the rose park, and the center holds a “rose yoga season” event every Saturday that has attracted thousands of yoga fans.