Suzhou - Deng Wei Hill, Guangfu Town, southwest of Suzhou

   The Qing emperor Qianlong paid pilgrimage to the plum blossom on the hillsides of Deng Wei in Suzhou in each of his six promenades to the Yangtse South. A Q'ing official was so inspired that he left calligraphy of three characters of overwhelming ambience, ? Xingxuehai ? , to depict the hillside of snow white Mei blossoms there, as a ? sea of scented snow ?. Needless to say more!

   The Mei trees here are predominately white double blossom with edible kernel type, stand in pleasantly hilly terrain, and the scale of their profusions suffices to impress with the spectacular snow effect. Since ancient times farmers in Deng Wei used to make a living from plum cultivation. Today there are collections of indigenous, Japanese and European varieties, cultivars and hybrids.