Ten-Thousand-Camellia in Yufengsi Lamasery

It is sight to be seen at Yufengsi Lamasery on the south side of the Yulong (Jade Dragon) Snow Mountain, some 13 km. from the county seat. The lamasery was built in the last year of the reign of the Qing Emperor Kangxi and is one of the Scarlet Sect lamaseries of Lijiang. "The riot of camellia" can be seen in the northwest compound, one of the three in the temple, which is said to have been built in the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty (1465-1487), after the camellia tree was planted. The tree is as old as over 500 years. Around the day when spring begins, the flowers also begin to vie in beauty and around the day when summer begins, they fade away. During some one hundred days they come in bloom in about 20 batches, each numbering over one thousand pieces, the whole totaling over twenty thou-sand pieces. In most cases two share a stem. The biggest flower may have nine pistils and eighteen petals, with a diameter like that of a large tea tray. It is therefore reputed as "the King of Camellias on the Globe".