In the Xinghua Lixiahe National Wetland Park in Xinghua – a county-level city under the administration of Taizhou, in East China's Jiangsu province – the lotuses have recently entered their peak flowering period.

Covering an area of 12,000 mu (800 hectares), a lotus pond there has planted nearly 100 varieties.

In recent years, Xinghua has combined its various rural tourism resources to create an integrated tourism complex that is themed on lotuses.

It offers planting, picking, leisure activities and sightseeing of lotuses, fostering the combined development of agriculture, culture and tourism.

Tourists take a tour on a boat on the lotus pond. [Photo/js.people.com.cn]

A bird's-eye view of the large lotus pond in the Xinghua Lixiahe National Wetland Park. [Photo/js.people.com.cn]