Some early spring blossoms in southwest China are entertaining tourists who seek to shake off the gloomy memories of the COVID-19 epidemic ahead of the Spring Festival.

The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, falls on this Friday. Usually, large family gathering and traveling can be expected in the week-long holiday for the festival.

With the epidemic still taking a toll on tourism, many people are turning to outdoor tourist attractions and natural scenery.

In Wanfeng Forest, a tourist attraction in southwest China's Guizhou Province, rapeseed flowers stretched over more than 530 acres of land have formed a golden-green sea.

Since mid-January, more than 10,000 people have flocked to the area to take in the first breezes of spring.

A similar scene can also be seen in southwest China's Yunnan Province, where officials introduced more than 60 species of peony flower of all colors.

Peonies, considered a symbol of prosperity in China, would normally start flowering in April and May.

However, adopting high technology, florists have tricked the blossoms into blooming two months ahead to add some festive atmosphere to the Spring Festival.

(Cover: Peonies bloom in southwest China's Yunnan Province. /CFP)

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