The peony has gained extraordinary support in an online vote to be chosen as China's national flower. The final result of the poll, initiated by the China Flower Association, will be unveiled on Friday.
The five days of voting began on Monday, and an official from the association revealed that the peony has collected more than 90 percent of the votes to date among 10 options.
"We are stepping into the new era and the county is witnessing social prosperity," the official satd. "People also have better living conditions. It is time to have an official national flower that can represent our state image and the nation's spirit."
According to the association, China's national flower should meet four standards: It should originate in China and have a long history in many regions; it should be beautiful in shape and color, to represent the Chinese culture and personality; it should have a profound historical culture and be widely known to the public; and it should be extensively used in many fields with a competitive ecological and economic value that could benefit the public.
"The peony was the national flower in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Apart from ornamental(观 赏的) value, it also has been used as a food and a traditional Chinese herb, for which it has strong economic value," Dong said. "It is widely known by Chinese people. Even my 10-year-old son and his classmates in primary school have voted for it."
By Wednesday afternoon, nearly 600,000 people had joined in the discussion on WeChat, with about 470,000 agreeing that the national flower should be only one certain flower.
Among several colors being considered, the red peony bas. gained the greatest support from the public with nearly 30,000 votes on Sina Weibo, followed by white and yellow.
Many netizens said they didn't realize that China has no national flower. In fact, many people said they had already accepted the peony as the national flower years before they saw the vote.
