A huge ink and brush painting featuring chrysanthemums is a highlight of the annual Festival that honours the elegant blossom. [CCTV.com]

A huge ink and brush painting featuring chrysanthemums is a highlight of the annual Festival that honours the elegant blossom. The festival is underway in Chongqing -- in Nanshan Botanic Park.

The ink and brush painting measures ten meters long and three meters high. What is truly fascinating about the work is that viewed from afar, the painting seems to depict a mountain setting. Only upon closer inspection is it apparent that the painting shows a field of chrysanthemums.

Shangguan Chaoying, Painter, said, It features the style of traditional "Xie Yi" or freehand brushwork. The vivid expression and bold outlines are typical. The stalks of the chrysanthemum form the shape of mountains. So the meaning of the painting is amplified.

Painter Shangguan Chaoying has created many large works of freehand brush painting. This is one of his largest works.

Chrysanthemums bloom in the cold days of late autumn, on into early winter. They have come to symbolize strength of character and will. Juxtaposing the image of the flower with the stone rigidity of mountains, is an apt representation of the spirit of the chrysanthemum. The painting is to remain in Nanshan Botanic Park as a permanent exhibit.

(CCTV November 7, 2008)