Bright lights

The highest temperature in the subtropical city can reach 29C in February, when the traditional new year usually starts. The nights are warm, flowers start to bloom and a gentle breeze blows. While strolling in the city, locals first stop at the annual lantern fair and then go to the Shagangxu flower fair to purchase flowers to usher in the new year.

This year's lantern fair displayed 43 sets of lanterns across three venues: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park, Yixian Lake Park and Zimaling Park, the province's largest park.

Unlike fairs in the northern cities of the country where the air is colder in winter, lanterns of different shapes and sizes are surrounded by chrysanthemums in Zhongshan.

The flowers are a highlight of Xiaolan, a nearby town.

The lantern fair, held over Feb 3-24 this year, had 60,000 chrysanthemum pots, with the major species being Dahlia pinnata, at all three exhibition venues, says Zhu Minghao, a fair organizer.

Chrysanthemums have become a part of the local lifestyle.