The annual Nanhui Peach Blossom Festival began Monday in Shanghai, though the best of the season's peach blossoms are not expected for several days. The festival is expected to last to April 13.

This year the time for viewing the flowers will be from Friday to April 10, experts said.

The Datuan Peach Blossom Garden, the main site to see the flowers, will welcome full blooms from April 2 to 10, according to the Nanhui Peach Study Institute.

This year the flowering season of the blossom has been slightly delayed, as the snow at the end of January and early February meant it took longer to reach the temperature most suitable for peach blossoms, experts said.

"Melting the snow absorbed a great deal of heat, so the temperature failed to rise quickly in February," said Shao Yunlong, director of the institute.

At the Shanghai Flower Port, another flower watching site, tulips are expected to bloom on Friday, the institute said.

Starting in 1991, the peach blossom festival has attracted 600,000 tourists from home and abroad on average every year. The district is now planning to promote the festival as a brand of Nanhui tourism.

Shi Xiaolin, a district official, said, "We'll borrow the experience of Sakura in Japan to make the festival an internationally known event."

(Shanghai Daily March 26, 2008)