Stunning Shandong chrysanthemums enter harvest season

Farmhands get to work to bring in Huibai chrysanthemums, which are now in full blossom in Shimiao town. [Photo by Wang Zhen for chinadaily.com.cn]

Glorious Huibai chrysanthemums, a specialty flower of Shimiao town – located in Huimin county, Binzhou, in East China's Shandong province – recently entered harvest season.

Zhang Aihua, a local villager, said she can earn more than 100 yuan ($13.67) a day by picking chrysanthemums, without neglecting her family duties or leaving her hometown.

Shimiao town has been developing the Huibai chrysanthemum industry as a pillar of its rural vitalization strategy, leveraging its natural resources and market demand. This year, the town has expanded the cultivation area for Huibai chrysanthemums to more than 180 mu (12 hectares), with an average income of over 8,000 yuan per mu.

The flower industry has also created more than 200 jobs for left-behind women and elderly people in the town, increasing their annual per capita income by more than 4,000 yuan.

The Huibai chrysanthemum is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb that can be used to make tea, wine and health products. It is also a popular ornamental plant that symbolizes longevity and happiness in Chinese culture. (Edited by Fan Yuanyuan)