Sweet Osmanthus is the city flower of Hangzhou, which, together with Xianning, Suzhou, Guilin, Hefei, has become one of the five sweet osmanthus producing areas. The people of Hangzhou celebrate the West Lake Sweet Osmanthus Festival in autumn when they appreciate the beauty and sweetness of sweet osmanthus.
The "Man Long Rain of Sweet Osmanthus" is the main scene of the Sweet Osmanthus Festival. Here more than 7,000 sweet osmanthus grow along the road. During the festival more than 200 colorful awnings tidily extend along the two sides of the road while people appreciate sweet osmanthus over their cups of tea, playing cards or chess in awnings or by trees, enjoying themselves.
The West Lake Sweet Osmanthus Festival combined the "Sweet Osmanthus Culture" with the "Tea Culture". For its opening ceremony there are large-scale comprehensive art shows and the Dragon's Well green tea ceremony, along with a symposium of the Late Sweet Osmanthus by Yu Dafu, and a party in memory of Premier Zhou Enlai. To make the festival more accessible to visitors, there are tea ceremonies of the 6 major teas in the country, ikebana performance, storytelling of "Hangzhou's People and Hangzhou's Events", bridge, weiqi, chess arena, mini golf, children's games at the Manjue Mount.
The West Lake Sweet Osmanthus Festival lasts for a month.

---