Guizhou: Cherry Blossoms, Mar 2025

By Beatrice Wong
April 28, 2025
7:30 pm
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Spring has arrived and it’s time to go see some flowers. Last year around this time I went to Linzhi, Tibet to see the peach blossoms. This year I decided to go to Guizhou in southwestern China to catch the cherry blossoms or sakura. It is said that the cherry blossoms in Guizhou can rival those in Japan. Guizhou is a mountainous and relatively poor and undeveloped province, but having said that, it is one of the fastest growing economies in China. Guizhou is famous for the fact that “the sky is never sunny for three days and the land is never flat for three miles” and so, armed with my rain gear, I flew from Shenzhen to Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province. To see the cherry blossoms, it is easiest to be based in Guiyang city.

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花, located north of Gui’an New District, about an hour away from Guiyang, is the best place to see large areas of cherry blossoms. Pingba Farm was once a prison labor camp and eventually became a tourist attraction receiving more than 2 million visitors every year during the flowering period. The park is the largest flower seedling cultivation base in Guizhou, covering an area of 12,000 acres and planting more than 700,000 rare cherry blossoms of various types. It is considered the largest cherry blossom park in the world. Every year from early March to early April during the 18 or so days, crowds flock here to see the breathtaking cherry blossoms. The first to bloom in early March are the white mountain cherry blossoms, which bloom for about 10 days. Due to the large planting area, they look like snow, which is very spectacular. The pink Japanese cherry blossoms appear after mid-March and last for about two weeks with the Hongfeng Lake 红枫湖 dividing the cherry blossom forest into many independent pink islands.

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

The golden rapeseed flowers bloom around the same time as the cherry blossoms.

The park is designed to include serene lakes, traditional Chinese pavilions and meandering pathways to complement the cherry blossoms. The area on the bank of Hongfeng lake where the river flows into the lake is known as Pingba Farm. The pink cherry blossoms, green tea plantations, yellow rapeseed flowers, and blue skies remind me of an oil painting.

There are many temporary carparks where you can park and then take a bus to the entrance of the park. Most roads are blocked so you can’t really drive up to the entrance directly. After alighting the bus, you need to walk a few hundred meters and get a ticket for the smaller sightseeing bus or walk all the way into the scenic area. The sightseeing bus will drop you off at the bottom of the hill leading up observation deck. First head up to the observation deck for panoramic views of the sea of cherry blossoms. Then stroll and photograph the flowers along the Hongfeng Lake.

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

The path leading up to the observation deck of Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Pingba Farm is a completely different experience than seeing the cherry blossoms in Japan. There is not much here other than the 700,000 cherry blossom trees. There are no nice tea houses or cafes or rest areas, let alone decent toilets (only portable toilets here). There are some food stalls selling spicy noodles, sausages, fries etc. and you sit on small low plastic stools to eat your food. I asked why this is so and the reply was no one visits this place other than these 2 weeks each year.

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Alternatively, navigate to Yinguan Village 音关村 where you can find cherry blossoms amidst tea gardens. Then from Yinguan, cross the bridge and you can also reach the observation deck. This way, you don’t have to take a big bus from the entrance and then transfer to one of the smaller sightseeing buses. I think this is an easier and more direct way to reach Pingba Farm. I was told that last year they offered helicopter as well as hot air balloon rides to get a better view of the sheer size of the park filled with cherry blossoms. However, this year both services were unavailable.

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Me at the edge of Hongfeng Lake

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

Pingba Cherry Blossom Farm 平坝樱花

I wanted to return to the area after visiting other Guizhou attractions but the weather suddenlly turned very cold and rainy which is bad news for the cherry blossoms. Usually lasting around 10 days, the cherry blossoms of Pingba Farm were pretty much gone in half the time. Luckily, I found another area nearby called Huangla Village 黄腊乡 still with many sakura trees in full bloom because of its relatively sheltered location. Locals say that the flowers here at Huangla will only last another 2-3 days at most. I liked this area more than the more famous Pingba. It is smaller and less crowded with a higher viewpoint for surrounding views.

Huangla Village 黄腊乡

Huangla Village 黄腊乡

Huangla Village 黄腊乡

Huangla Village 黄腊乡

Huangla Village 黄腊乡

There is yet another area, Youer Village 右二村, with a concentration of the more pink Japanese breed of sakura. However, due to the sudden cold weather, the flowers there have not yet bloomed.

A quick mention of an area known as “Golden Sea and Snow Mountain” at Yinzhai Village 音寨, an hour east of Guiyang. The area is known for its thousands of acres of golden rapeseed flowers and thousands of hectares of snow-white plum and pear blossoms. The white pear blossoms are already gone by the time I visited but the rapeseed flowers are still in full bloom.