The launch ceremony for a Kazanlak-style rose-themed garden is held in Pingyin county, Jinan, Shandong province on May 6. Two envoys water a rose tree at the ceremony. [Photo provided to english.jinan.gov.cn]

A rose-themed garden featuring the style of Kazanlak, a city in Bulgaria, was inaugurated in Pingyin county, Jinan, Shandong province on May 6.

Kazanlak is a sister city of Jinan, and both are home to thriving rose industries. The garden will help deepen cultural exchanges between Jinan and Kazanlak.

Pingyin county attaches great importance to the development of its rose industry. The rose planting area has reached more than 60,000 mu (4,000 hectares), with an annual output of more than 20,000 tons of roses, according to Wang Xiucheng, head of Pingyin county, at the launch ceremony.

"I hope to take this event as a starting point, and promote the cooperation and exchanges between the two sides in the rose industry to a new level," he added.

A view of the rose-themed sister city garden [Photo provided to english.jinan.gov.cn]

Grigor Polozanov, ambassador of Bulgaria to China, expressed thanks to the people of Pingyin for their warm hospitality at the ceremony.

He said that Pingyin rose has a history of more than 1,000 years, noting that roses had become an international channel linking China and Bulgaria.

Roses symbolize beauty and tolerance. The sister cities of Jinan and Kazanlak will carry out more cooperation and exchanges on the basis of their mutual advantages in the rose industry in the future. The garden will also be a witness to the enduring friendship between the two sides, he added.

Accordingly, the garden started construction at the beginning of 2021, with an investment of nearly 700,000 yuan ($108,847.76). The garden is round in shape and covers an area of 450 square meters. The garden is mostly planted with roses, while decorations in the garden are integrated with rose elements, including street lamps, as well as each flowerbed being shaped like a rose when seen from the air, which highlights the county's rose culture.