2015年CRI Lavender Festival Kicks off in Ili

 

Every June, a large number of tourists from China and aboard are surrounded by purple waves as lavender comes into blossom in Huocheng County, Xinjiang, the so-called "Oriental Provence".

This is the 5th year of the Huocheng lavender festival, which features a lavender experts' forum¹, a "Miss. Lavender" beauty contest, and ethnic² groups' traditional performances.

Yang Menghan, a tourist from Shanghai is surprised about how much lavender is planted in Xinjiang.

"For me, the sheer number of lavender fields in Ili came as a really big shock. Previously³, I thought this kind of plant could only be cultivated in foreign countries, and I just realize it can grow so well in China. I would like to buy some lavender-derived essential oil for my relatives and friends."

Back in the 1960s, three species of lavender were introduced from Provence, France to Ili for the first time.

Since Huocheng is located at the same latitude⁴ as the world famous lavender base Provence, the city has ideal climate conditions to plant the crop on an industrial scale.

After half a century, Huocheng has taken up 98% of China's lavender fields.

French lavender expert Pierre Ross still remembers his first visit to Ili several years ago, when he took a sample of Xinjiang's lavender seeds back to a laboratory in France.

Mr. Ross has been working on how to improve the lavenders' quality in Xinjiang over the past few years.

"I would like to say with confidence, you know... the great difference between lavender from Ili and lavender from Provence is the price, because it is the French (brand), it is more expensive. So for example, if Americans know that, they would buy more lavender from Xinjiang. "

As Ili stands at a key position for building China's Silk Road Economic Belt, Ren Ke, CEO of the local lavender giant Jieyou Princess is expecting more opportunities for Xinjiang lavender to go global.

"In the past, we were lagging behind those global top brands due to the less well developed technology. Thanks to the "Belt and Road" initiative, the authorities have helped us bring more foreign experts here. As such, the improved quality has created good conditions for our products to sell overseas. "

In recent years, more and more farmers have turned their eyes from tradition food crops to lavender planting, since the latter is more lucrative⁵.

The number of farmers planting lavender in Huocheng County has now reached 15 thousand.

For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen in Xinjiang.

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

5 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。