Withered Branch Peony Garden

　　   A national AA-level tourist attraction, located in Biance Town, Tinghu District. The withered branch peony is famous for being peculiar, unique, strange, and mystical. Its peculiarity lies in having green leaves and withered branches but blooming vibrant flowers. Its uniqueness is that the flowers only bloom fully in this garden. Its strangeness is that in a leap year with 13 lunar months, the flowers have 13 petals, while in a regular year with 12 months, they have 12 petals, forming a pattern of single-petal peonies. Its mysticism is that it seems to sense worldly events and trends. Classical novels such as *Flowers in the Mirror* and the *Yancheng County Annals* from the Ming and Qing dynasties all describe and record it. The withered branch peonies bloom within three days before or after Grain Rain each year. At that time, the whole garden bursts into bloom, with dazzling purples and reds as if made of rouge — gorgeous, lustrous, and richly fragrant; the leaves framing the blossoms are lush, thick, and emerald green, yet the main stems appear weather-beaten, withered, and almost rotten, like dry firewood. The flowers come in two colors, crimson and pink, with golden-yellow stamens. Sun Yizhi of the Qing Dynasty wrote a poem titled “Drunken Yang Guifei” in praise: “In its prime it monopolized beauty, / Under the Heaven’s Bliss it outshone the rest, / Now dust dims rouge, fallen petals rest, / Yet shadows linger in the human world.” When General Zhang Aiping served as Minister of National Defense, he inscribed the couplet for the “Withered Branch Peony Garden”: “Waters three thousand zhang deep, / Peonies seven hundred years old.” The rare withered branch peonies in the garden today are over 740 years old. Every year around Grain Rain, the garden becomes an ocean of blossoms, attracting throngs of visitors. In recent years, new attractions have been added, including the Ink Fragrance Pavilion, Ancient Charm Corridor, Flower Rain Corridor, Octagonal Cloister, Exotic Flowers Pavilion, Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, Yuanheng Sculpture, Stele Pavilion, Peony Fairy, Dry Bridge, Bliss Temple, and Relief Square. In 2009, the peony garden was listed as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Yancheng City,” and the “China Tinghu Withered Branch Peony Festival” has been held here for 15 consecutive sessions.