Colorful lotus flowers on the vast stretches of ponds in Guangchang County, east China's Jiangxi Province, have burst into full bloom lately, creating a breathtaking scenery arousing great interest from visitors, as lotus growing has emerged as a somewhat quite lucrative business for locals.
Stretching across some 7,300 hectares, the lotus fields in Guangchang spread along rolling hills, creating a scenery of tranquil beauty dotted with pink and white blossoms swaying above emerald leaves.
On the narrow paths between the ponds are visitors strolling around, pausing to take photographs and pose for selfies against the floral backdrop.
"II come from Dongguan City of Guangdong Province [in south China]. It's pretty stunning, and I've never seen such a large lotus pond before. The scenery feels wide open and the weather is great today, which make the experience even more enjoyable," said tourist Ou Hanjie.
In recent years, local authorities have made lotus growing a highly profitable business by leveraging the county's natural advantages to upgrade the lotus industry from single-product seed processing into a diversified economy that now includes flower-viewing tourism, fresh lotus seedpod harvesting, and the development of value-added products.
This shift has boosted both the market value of lotus products and villagers' income.
"In the past, selling dried lotus seeds would earn about 60,000 yuan (8,352 U.S. dollars) per hectare. Now selling fresh lotus brings in about 90,000 yuan (12,528 U.S. dollars) per hectare, saves me time, and I can also do an odd job here for extra income," said Li Fengxiu, a local villager.
At present, the acreage of white lotus in Guangchang County has reached 7,330 hectares. In 2024, the comprehensive annual output value generated by the local lotus growing industry exceeded 4.3 billion yuan (599 million U.S. dollars), making it a truly prosperous industry for the community.
Lotus bloom in east China city amazes visitors, boosts locals' income
