‘Sounds Peachy!’

If you are going to travel to Beijing around springtime, why not stop-off at Pinggu. Not to be fooled with the conventional botanical garden shows, the Pinggu Peach Flowers Festival is an annual springtime event which allows people to admire the blossoming local peach trees. This is an extremely popular event that spans a few weekends in the month of April. Well-known for its peaches, Pinggu village sits in the biggest fruit-growing zone of the Beijing area. Travelling to the village takes approximately two hours from Beijing. What makes Pinngu a handy location is that it is en route to Laoxiangfeng on the 918 bus, so travellers can always combine the two in the same day. If you prefer not to travel independently, China tours can provide useful services concerning this matter. The festival is a laidback affair with people of all ages enjoying themselves; making it an excellent place to bring the family. Across the road from the peach trees, there are some stalls where you can buy local farm produce and also where the toilets are situated. Interestingly, the festival has gained recognition throughout the community with the local television channel, BTV, hosting range of acts through the proceedings. 'Community' is certainly a key word because at the festival this is where you will discover the real warmth of northern hospitality. Indeed, from a foreigner's viewpoint, visiting the festival gives a chance to really engage with local life with all its similarities and contrasts to your own homeland. Along one of the lanes which intersect through the peach-tree field, you can find a number of stalls which sell, make and cook various products. A couple of venders, in particular, create some unbelievably life-like bugs (such as butterflies and crickets) out of reeds which are a must-see. In any case, with lots of fairground-style games, the Pinggu Festival is again a great place to have a fun day out with friends and family alike. Transportation costs notwithstanding, the visit to the festival can be relatively cost-effective when there. You do not need to purchase anything, for example, plus you can just wander around and admire the wonderful flowery setting which has an outstanding mountainous backdrop. Unfortunately, you may not be able to eat any fresh peaches picked from the local field as the peach harvest occurs towards August/September time. The fields have, nevertheless, a typically Chinese appearance with working stilted-huts dotted throughout. In addition to the peach trees, the fields also comprise of other crops such as onions which in itself demonstrates the resourcefulness of the sector which feeds the nation as a whole. After visiting the festival, it does feel somewhat of a treat to see rural life in China as opposed to the everyday city existence. Subsequently, it is highly recommended that if booking China flights in the near future, to contemplate what else the country offers besides the more famous touristic highlights.       from China Travel Blog http://blog.chinatraveldepot.com

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