At a meeting with his colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Engineering on July 1, senior academic Chen Junyu appealed to them for a decision on China's national flower.

Chen's proposal of using both the peony and the plum blossom as national flowers -- also known as "one country, two flowers" proposal, won the support of 61 other academicians from both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

In an interview with Beijing Morning Post published on July 27, Chen, also a professor with the Beijing Forestry University, said that he first proposed to use the plum blossom as the national flower in 1982.

It was only in 1988 that he proposed the plum blossom and the peony as the two national flowers.

In the mid-1990s, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress discussed the issue of a national flower, but no decision was made.

The main reason why a decision still hasn't been made is that not everyone understands the significance of having a national flower.

"The national flower is different from the national anthem, flag or emblem, which are written into the (country's) constitution. It has nothing to do with politics," Chen said.

"However, the peony was the national flower during the Qing Dynasty, and the plum blossom was named the national flower by the Republic of China in 1929. So, there is a tendency to avoid meddling in the issue since it is apparently political," Chen added.

There is another reason. "The country is too diverse. There is no one flower that truly symbolizes the whole of China," Chen explained.

Chen remarked that as the only major nation in the world without a national flower, China is sure to feel the awkwardness of the situation as the 2008 Beijing Olympics approaches.

"This is the best time for us to decide on a national flower!" he said.

Having two national flowers is not the only option available. Since the 1980s, different proposals have been put forward: there was the single flower proposal, pitting the peony and the plum blossom against each other; there was the "one country, four flowers" proposal that involved the plum blossom, the peony, the chrysanthemum and the water lily, each one representing a season; and there was the "one country, five flowers" proposal, also known as "one primary, four supplementary," the peony being the main national flower and the other four representing the different seasons -- orchid (spring), water lily (summer), chrysanthemum (autumn) and plum (winter).

The peony grows mainly in areas around the Yellow River, including the northern and northwestern parts of China. It represents elegance, prosperity and good fortune. The plum blossom grows mainly in the Yangtze River areas, including east and south China. It represents a firm and unyielding spirit.

Chen believes that the dual national flower idea is likely to be accepted by people.

"Too many flowers will weaken the significance of a national flower, while one is not representative enough," he explained.

Chen referred to the selection of a city flower for Beijing more than twenty years ago.

"Two flowers were most favored by people: the chrysanthemum and the Chinese rose. My suggestion of having both flowers as city flowers broke the deadlock," he said proudly.

Eight Chinese cities have the plum blossom as their city flower, and two have the peony.

(China.org.cn by Wind Gu August 3, 2005)