Xingqing Palace combines ancient architecture with the beauty of lakes and mountains, offering a royal atmosphere and garden charm. It features grand buildings such as Long Hall, Changqing Pavilion, Chenxiang Pavilion, Huaye Xianghui Tower, and Qinguang Wuben Tower, all surrounding the Dragon Pool, a vast body of clear water. The northern part of Xingqing Palace is dominated by majestic palaces, while the southern part includes Nanxiong Hall, Changxing Hall, and Datong Hall, each hidden in the forest and unique in its own way. The ancient and elegant Xingqing Palace has become an excellent location for traditional Chinese photography in Xi'an, attracting many young women wearing Hanfu to take beautiful photos. The best time for photography at Xingqing Palace is in spring, when peach blossoms, cherry blossoms, and peonies fall with the wind, creating a picturesque “flower waterfall” that attracts visitors to take photos. Other recommended locations for traditional Chinese photography in Xi'an include Daci'en Temple Ruins Park, Huaqing Pool, Daming Palace National Site Park, Tang Garden, Shijingli, Xi'an Bell Tower, and Tang Dynasty Night City.
Tang Garden is a hidden paradise in Xi'an, featuring many century-old bonsai and ancient trees, artificial hills, streams, pavilions, and koi fish. It is tranquil and elegant, exuding a traditional Chinese charm. Tang Garden is an excellent place for traditional Chinese photography in Xi'an and Shaanxi, attracting many traditional Chinese photography enthusiasts, wedding photographers, and people wearing Hanfu. The best time for photography is in spring and autumn when the ancient trees form a forest, and the autumn scenery is particularly charming. Every spring, magnolias, apricot blossoms, cherry blossoms, peach blossoms, crabapples, peonies, and roses bloom in Daming Palace, attracting a large number of visitors to admire and take photos. Other recommended locations for the most beautiful flower viewing and photography in Xi'an include Tang Paradise, Qinglong Temple, Xingqing Palace Park, and Qinling National Botanical Garden.
May is the most vibrant season for Yunfeng Mountain's Fairy Tree House Forest, where flowers bloom and peonies blossom in the forest, filling the air with a sweet fragrance. During the May holiday, a special “Fairy Tree House Peony Hanfu Season” event was held for children. Children can gather on the tea garden lawn, change into their costumes, and then go to the peony garden to admire the flowers. Mengtian Café also specially launched a fairy afternoon tea. Additionally, children can create their own miniature “peony” succulent gardens, which are cute and mini. By designing, arranging, planting, and managing them, these small gardens grow into tiny “peony” gardens.
“When Hanfu Meets Peony” – Only the peony truly represents the national color; when it blooms, it stirs the capital city. On March 27th, the annual Peony Festival opened in Xiangsihai Baoheding Village, Chenzhou, Hunan. Although the Peony Festival in Baoheding has been held for several years, many tourists still come to see the peonies. This year, however, the number of visitors was exceptionally high. In addition to the traditional flower viewing activities, the theme of “When Hanfu Meets Peony” shone brightly, allowing visitors to experience the charm and cultural heritage of Chinese traditional culture while enjoying the spring scenery.
To promote the national flower, Mayor Zhang Lun of Heze, dressed in Hanfu and Tang attire, entered the Taobao live streaming room, transforming into a “peony expert” and narrating the cultural history of Heze peonies. “Heze peonies have nine major color series, ten flower shapes, and over 250 varieties. Now, Heze not only grows, cultivates, and displays peonies but has also promoted the industrial development of peonies, developing products such as peony flower bud tea and peony herbal medicine.” In addition to peonies, Hanfu is also one of Heze's specialties. As the largest Hanfu production base in the country, Heze's Hanfu sales account for a significant portion of the national market.
From the “Tang Palace Banquet” to the “Luo River Goddess Water Assignment,” from the Kunqu Opera “The Peony Pavilion · Youyuan · Bubujiao” to immersive consumption experiences like ancient-style script killing and traditional banquets centered around Hanfu elements, Hanfu has broken through its niche and entered everyday life. In particular, the rich cultural connotations of Hanfu resonate with the cultural demands of the younger generation, leading to the development of Hanfu manufacturing and ancient-style tourism activities centered around Hanfu. These developments have transformed Hanfu from a dry historical resource and a traditional costume disconnected from modern life into a popular fashion that is lively and integrated into our daily lives, embodying modern living concepts and innovative creations based on tradition.
The largest Chinese gardens are found in Beijing and Jiangnan. Beijing's gardens are planted with many peonies, making them suitable for traditional Chinese and ancient-style photography. In autumn, the garden paths are lined with yellow apricots, perfect for light and fresh photography. If you don't want to shoot traditional Chinese or ancient styles, you can go to European-style gardens, which feature angel fountains, winged Madonna statues, St. Peter sculptures, and European palaces. Walking towards Gate No. 1, there is a large wetland area. In short, this park is far away, so the admission fee is cheap, and there are few visitors. Whether it's traditional Chinese, ancient style, European-style makeup photography, or light and fresh styles, almost all styles are suitable here.
At the opening ceremony of the 40th Luoyang Peony Cultural Festival, Hanfu performers happily tried the sugar-free peony-flavored sparkling water produced by “Luoyang Gifts.” The sparkling water comes in green and pink packaging, both with a peony flavor. When the reporter opened the bottle, they first smelled a fragrance similar to peony petals, followed by a sweet and refreshing taste. Li Yun introduced that the company revised the formula four times, tasting nearly ten flavors for each version before finalizing the current flavor. The sparkling water is available at the Yingtian Gate Ruins Museum, Luoyang Planning Exhibition Hall, Peony Pavilion, and other locations, priced between 3 to 5 yuan.
The rise of ancient-style clothing is more complex but can be understood as a revival movement led by modern young people through clothing. With the increasing number of participants and the need for development, ancient-style clothing has evolved from initially referring only to Hanfu to now encompassing all clothing with Chinese elements, including even the subcategory of ancient-style Lolita. Common features in Hanfu, such as collars, lapels, closures, necklines, hems, peonies, birds, and clouds, often appear in ancient-style clothing.
Reasons for Recommendation: Quancheng Park, formerly known as Jinan Botanical Garden, has a plant tour area in the eastern part of the park, featuring cypress, peony, rose, bamboo, willow, chrysanthemum, and lilac gardens. The vegetation is rich, providing many scenic spots for photography. This time, we especially recommend the extensive lotus areas in Quancheng Park. Every summer, entering from the north gate of Quancheng Park, you can see large clusters of lotus flowers and leaves, which are highly favored by photographers specializing in ancient-style Hanfu. The best time for lotus and lotus leaf photography is in July and August, while by September, only the lotus leaves remain.