An international plum blossom festival, the 11th of the kind, will be open on Feb. 24 in Nanjing, capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province.

Visitors from 15 countries will attend this year's festival, which will be held at the Plum Blossom Mountain in the eastern suburbs of Nanjing, said Shi Ailing, deputy director of the Administration for the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, leader of China's democratic revolution.

"Starting from late February through to early March, the Plum Blossom Mountain, where some 15,000 plum trees are grown, will be a sea of flowers," said Shi.

The plum blossom is the city flower of Nanjing, where a local custom is to view the plum blossoms in early spring every year.

A variety of activities including a grand opening ceremony, a tourism fair, and an exhibition of photography on plum blossoms will be organized during the festival, which will last till March 20.

(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2006)