Over 500 varieties of lotus bloom in expo park in E China's Jiangxi

After a summer thunderstorm, the lotus and water lilies at the lotus science and technology expo park in Guangchang county, east China's Jiangxi Province, glistened with raindrops, appearing even more vibrant and enchanting.

As researchers tended to the aquatic plants in the ponds, visitors strolled leisurely among the blossoms, enjoying the picturesque scenery, which resembled a splendid watercolor painting unfolding before the eyes.

As China's earliest research and exhibition platform dedicated to seed lotus, the lotus science and technology expo park is home to over 500 representative lotus and water lily varieties from around the world.

Notably, Guangchang county has carried out six rounds of space-induced mutagenesis breeding with the support of scientific research, resulting in the successful development of the "space lotus" variety series.

Thanks to these efforts, the average per-mu (mu is a Chinese unit of area equal to 667 square meters) yield of white lotus has been increased from 30–40 kilograms to 80–120 kilograms.

Among the varieties, "space lotus No. 36" has become one of the main cultivars in China's seed lotus producing regions.

The annual planting area of this variety now reaches approximately 2 million mu, with a cumulative planting area exceeding 20 million mu—accounting for more than 80 percent of the country's seed lotus cultivation.

Today, Guangchang is the largest white lotus breeding base in China. Each year, it supplies about 80 million "space lotus" seed rhizomes to regions across the country, making it a vital source of income for local farmers.

According to official data, Guangchang's annual white lotus planting area remains stable at around 110,000 mu, with a comprehensive annual industrial output value of 4.34 billion yuan (about $604.15 million).