Spring: Party with azalea
In late spring and early summer every year, Mt. Emei becomes a sea of azalea. On the over 50-km-long trail, azalea blossoms burst into bloom everywhere along the trails and in the valley. The mountain is dyed into red and thickly covered by the adorable flowers.
Azalea is also called Suoluo Flower, as Mt. Emei is one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China. According to the Buddhist scripture Agama, Visvabhu, the predecessor Buddha of Sakyamuni, attained enlightenment and became a Buddha under this Suoluo Flower.
There are 30 species of azalea, one of the Top Four Famous Flowers of China, in Mt. Emei. They are not only abundant in species, but also rare and valuable. The following are among them: Rhododendron calophytum, the queen of azalea, which looks like a beauty with perfect body shape standing out among others; Rhododendron adenogynum Diels which has jade-like petals; elegant and lucid Rhododendron lutescens, with yellow or light yellow corolla; small and bright-colored Rhododendron dendrocharis, which hangs high over twigs or cliffs like baskets of flowers in the sky; and light yellow Rhododendron ambiguum, with exceptional fragrance. Besides, there are another two species that are exclusive in Mt. Emei. One is Rhododendron hanceanum, which is discovered by a German missionary Faber in 1887. The other is Rhododendron hemsleyanum that was discovered by an English botanist Wilson in 1899. These white petalled azalea are evergreen shrubs with theirFlorescence lasting 6 months. They are normally 2-3 meters high with some rare ones 5-6 meters high, generally growing in the bushes from Hongchunping to Xixin Temple at an elevation of 1000-1600 meters.
There are both azalea shrubs and azalea trees in Mt. Emei, with Rhododendron simsii and Rhododendron mucronatum common in the low elevation area and many other azalea species in the high elevation area, particularly in the 70-hectare-large Suoluoping Azalea Conservation Zone in Leidongping at 2300-2600 meters high, where 12 species of China-exclusive azalea can be found. Azalea in Mt. Emei varies from undershrubs, shrubs, small trees to trees. From April to June every year, azalea is blooming all over the mountain, in light yellow, purple, snow white, pink and rose etc., with different forms and postures, forming a colorful azalea sea. As such, Mt. Emei is a valuable place to research the features, community structure, ecological system and evolution history of azalea, and also a rare resource pool of wild flowers.
The best season for enjoying azalea blooms in Mt. Emei is from April to June, when the azalea sea is rolling on non-stop from the peak of the mountain. Viewing from the distant, you can see the blooms shimmering like waves and feel the fragrance flowing in the air. What a magnificent sight! Wandering in the sea is like walking in the wonderland, detaching you from the material world. The beauty of nature brings the feeling and joy of beauty about.
