SUMMARY

Chrysanthemums are a beautiful flower that have many hidden properties, making it an important part of Chinese culture, cuisine, and medicine.

SCRIPT

The chrysanthemum is enjoyed all over the world for its aesthetic qualities and is one of the most culturally important flowers in China. However, this plant is more than just a thing of beauty - its usefulness extends to culinary and medicinal purposes, and it is celebrated in China during the important Double Ninth Festival.

As early as the 15th Century BC in China, the chrysanthemum was cultivated as a culinary herb and its young shoots and petals adorned salads, while the flowers and leaves were brewed into teas. Nowadays Chrysanthemum leaves are boiled or steamed and used as greens and the flowers are added to enhance the aroma of mixian in broth or thick snakemeat soup. It is also frequently used in stir fries and in Hot Pot.

The versatile plant also has a number of medicinal benefits. According to legend, the roots of the chrysanthemum flower were used to cure headaches and, for generations, the powerful antioxidants and minerals in chrysanthemum tea have helped to lower blood pressure and reduce inflammation. It is even used to treat chest pain, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, conjunctivitis and dizziness, possibly because it increases blood flow to the heart. Sounds like a miracle cure to me!

The chrysanthemum is celebrated in the important Double Ninth Festival. Held on the 9th day of the 9th lunar month, the Festival is a day for people to admire the flower and drink chrysanthemum wine, which is a custom dating back to the Han dynasty when the wine was a symbol of longevity because of its health-giving properties. Another custom of the Double Ninth Festival is to eat Chongyang Cake, which is steamed and contains nuts and jujube. The name for cake in Chinese is “gao”, which also means “high”, so climbing mountains is also a custom during the festival.

In 1989, a new meaning was designated for the Double Ninth Festival, relating to the word “jiu” which means “long” in Chinese. The festival is now considered as “Senior’s Day”, a day to respect the elderly. Many families organize a relaxing day in a natural setting for their elders and companies arrange for retired people to have an enjoyable outing which can include relaxing in nature and climbing mountains.

The chrysanthemum is the city flower of Kaifeng in the east-central Henan province of China. They have held an annual Kaifeng Chrysanthemum Cultural Festival since 1983, and it is a dazzling time of year which takes place between 18th October to 18th November, where hundreds of chrysanthemum breeds are displayed all over the city at festival venues.