This year's cultural tourism festival is hosted by Yanji Department Store Co., Ltd. and organized by Hwaryong Hexin Trading Co., Ltd. With the theme "Using flowers as a medium to promote folk culture; Using the festival to make friends and boost tourism development," and adopting an event model of "corporate sponsorship and market operation," the festival emphasizes public participation, highlights the rich cultural tourism resources of Hwaryong, and promotes the continuous development and integration of the city's tourism industry and cultural undertakings.
As one of the earliest festivals held annually in Jilin Province, the Rhododendron Cultural Tourism Festival has been successfully held for five editions. The sixth edition of the Rhododendron Cultural Tourism Festival will feature main events including the festival opening ceremony, tourism route promotions, and a Rhododendron culture forum. In addition, there will be a series of related activities such as local product exhibitions, agricultural and sideline product fairs, traditional folk food displays, folk sports performances, photography exhibitions, calligraphy and painting exhibitions, as well as an on-site children's nursery rhyme and poem creation competition.
In recent years, Hwaryong City has closely followed the development strategy of "revitalizing the city through tourism," leveraging its own strengths and innovating its development concepts. It has proposed the tourism slogan "Rhododendrons at the Foot of Changbai Mountain, the Most Beautiful China-North Korea Border Line." With rich Rhododendron cultural elements such as "Green Oasis Rhododendrons, Snow Rhododendrons, Borderland Rhododendrons, Livable Rhododendrons, and Ethnic Rhododendrons," and relying on five distinctive tourism resources—"ecology, history, folklore, snow, and borderlands"—the city is focusing on creating the "China·Hwaryong Rhododendron International Scenic Tourism Resort," which integrates ecological sightseeing, cultural experiences, leisure vacations, wellness, and health functions.