Encounter the Lotus in Jilin

In Changchun, as summer yields to autumn, the air turns pleasantly cool, and the fragrance of lotus drifts through streets and alleys. Pink‑and‑white lotus flowers are in full bloom in ponds across the city, drawing crowds of visitors to Nanhu Park, Jingyuetan Wetland, Youyi Park, Tongxin Lake Park, Qingshuiyin Park and many other green spaces. Lotus blossoms sway above blue ripples at Nanhu Park, while vast stretches of lotus fields stretch out at Jingyuetan Wetland.

What was once a rare seasonal sight limited to a handful of parks has now become a widespread urban scene where lotus flowers grow wherever there is water. Over decades of domestication, cultivation and development, lotus flowers have taken root in Changchun. Their evolution — from a single‑site tourist attraction that people made special trips to see, to a culture‑rich experience enhanced by festivals, and finally to a city‑branded icon woven into urban life that drives cultural‑tourism consumption — serves as a vivid testament to the city’s steady progress in ecological conservation, cultural heritage and the integration of culture and tourism.

Rooted in the Black Land: From One Small Lotus Pond to a City‑wide Bloom

Changchun’s bond with the lotus began at Nanhu Park, almost alongside the city’s modern history. When the park was founded in 1933, its designers marked out an area for lotus plants on the water‑layout blueprint. Thus, a symbol of the regions south of the Yangtze River was planted on the black soil at 43° north latitude, like a seed waiting for a spring whose arrival no‑one could predict.

The lotus zone planned at the park’s birth gradually won public affection from the 1990s onward. Back then, the lotus ponds covered a limited area. The flowers reproduced naturally via creeping rhizomes and fallen lotus seeds, with West Lake Red Lotus as the dominant variety.

“Years ago, Nanhu Park was practically the only spot in Changchun for lotus‑viewing,” recalled 75‑year‑old local resident Chen Jinsheng.

According to Cui Yulong, Section Chief of the Landscape Department at Nanhu Park, the park’s current lotus plants are mainly distributed at the Little West Lake near Gate 5, the Central Lotus Pond, and the waterfront from Three‑Boat Platform to Lingbi Bridge, covering nearly three hectares in total. In summer, Nanhu Park receives around 30,000 visitors on an average day, with an extra 2,000‑3,000 daily visitors during the peak lotus‑bloom season.

Great care goes into lotus maintenance. Above‑water stems are cut off in autumn and winter for landscape management. During full bloom, leaves that rot close to the water surface must be removed promptly to preserve scenic quality. Cui Yulong noted that park staff went on research trips in 2019 to introduce new varieties. They selected pink and white water‑lily cultivars capable of surviving local winters, so as to enrich the colour layers of the lotus ponds.