From the end of April to the end of May, more than 10,000 mu（about 6.67 square kilometers) of edible roses are blooming in Bajie town, Anning city, so it is the right time for citizens to participate in the 8th rose-related tourism activities now. 

As the first and largest rose growing area in Yunnan, Bajie began cultivating roses in1950s, and the endless fields of roses there had left a deep impression on tourists all over this country in the past seven years. This year roses that brightly bloom in clusters there will attract a large number of tourists too. 

The best roses Toushui, which is the name given by flower growers to the first blooming roses in the field of Bajie, have bloomed. These roses have a strong fragrance, a light astringent flavour and thick petals, which make them more suitable for making food. Because of the optimum climate in Bajie, cakes made of Toushui there taste sweet and strong, retaining the original flavor of flowers in each of them. 

In this year's activity, tourists could take photos with the continuous rose fields and enjoyably pick roses in fields with bees hovering among flowers. Tourists could also taste specialties there, such as rose wine, rose juice beverage, flower cakes, rose jam and so on. In addition, plenty of cherries are hanging in branches in the near towns, so tourists can fill their baskets with cherries and roses in the coming holiday.

There are 37 specialized farmer cooperatives and 12 food processing enterprises with modern assembly lines in Bajie, successfully producing and selling 61 pollution-free rose products in and out of Yunnan province. Combined with the rose-related tourism activities, they effectively promote the development of the secondary and tertiary industries in Bajie. 

“Many farmers here became rich by growing roses. At present, 70% of the roses are used to make flower cakes, but in the future, we should make the most of roses and develop more deep-processed rose foods. For example, adding roses to sweet dumplings, eight-treasure rice puddings and Xylitol may be a good choice.” Li Haiyan, the deputy director of the Bajie sub-district office, said. 

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(Editors: Alison, Rachel)