The annual Shanghai Lotus and Water Lily Exhibition, comprising over 750 varieties of flowers, promises to be a visual feast at Shanghai Guyi Garden in Jiading District.

The exhibition, already in its 10th year, will open on Thursday, this year's Dragon Boat Festival, and will run through August 22, adding color to the classical Jiangnan-style garden, which dates back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The flowers in red, white, pink, yellow and purple create a beautiful backdrop, and a wonderful mix of approximately 30 cultural activities will enhance the experience of both residents and visitors.

There are six big gardening landscapes with lotuses and water lilies.

The scenes deftly blend traditional Chinese intangible cultural heritages such as bamboo weaving, calligraphy, and tuanshan, also known as moon-shaped fans, with painting, showcasing the charm of Chinese tea culture and calligraphy.

They present a poetic picture in traditional Chinese ink-wash paintings in the midst of the light fragrance of the flowers.

Around 500 lotus and 250 water lily varieties from around the world, including some rare ones, are on display.

Guyi Garden will be transformed into the city's first park dedicated to intangible cultural treasures.

Shanghai's greens authorities had previously stated that the city would create and remodel a number of parks that would combine sports, culture, music, art, and traditional Chinese opera by 2025 to enrich residents' leisure time.

Guyi Garden, according to the plan, will become a place for enjoying traditional Chinese culture and the beauty of Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage.

During the exhibition, there will be immersive night tours with hanfu (traditional Han-style clothing) and cultural and dancing performances to the tunes of Jiangnan sizhu (string and wind music).

Intangible cultural heritage activities such as dough modeling and flower arrangement, as well as lotus snack making and tea leaf and linen dying, will be held.

Tourists will be welcome to make sachets in the garden during the Dragon Boat Festival.

The garden will also host an exhibition of intangible cultural assets with the lotus as the theme.

The exhibition's two sub-venues are Shanghai Zuibaichi Park in Songjiang District and Chenjiashan Lotus Park in Jiading.

If you go:

Date: June 22-August 22, 5:30am-7:30pm

Admission: 12 yuan

Venue: Guyi Garden 古猗园

Address: 218 Huyi Highway

嘉定区沪宜公路218号

How to get there: Take Metro Line 11 to Nanxiang Station (南翔站). Walk from Exit 1 for 20 minutes.