An Immersive Date with Osmanthus

Upon learning that Guilin had opened a new scenic area themed around 'Osmanthus Culture', I couldn't wait to visit the Osmanthus Commune on my day off.

After exchanging tickets at the visitor center, the guide led us into the Osmanthus Culture Experience Hall.

In the Osmanthus Culture Experience Hall, we searched together for the ten-thousand-year-old osmanthus seeds and the Osmanthus Seed Spirits, traveled through ten thousand years to trace the roots of osmanthus culture, and followed the footsteps of Chen Jichang on his imperial examination journey...

The Gui Pulse Exhibition Hall preserves a carbonized ten-thousand-year-old osmanthus seed, which is over ten thousand years old and the oldest osmanthus seed in the world. This hall also presents the distribution of osmanthus, the five major production areas in China, and related knowledge such as international registration rights through text and images.

The Gui Fragrance Exhibition Hall not only presents a visual and auditory feast of osmanthus via multimedia technology but also offers a 5D immersive short film that feels like walking through an osmanthus forest—a great spot for taking photos.

The Gui Flavor Exhibition Hall explains the medicinal and edible value of osmanthus. As early as in Li Shizhen's 'Compendium of Materia Medica', there are records of using osmanthus in medicine and cuisine. In this hall, we learned from the guide that the osmanthus used for making osmanthus cakes and other foods is mainly the golden osmanthus, and we also experienced the preciousness of osmanthus essential oil—10,000 jin of osmanthus can only extract 1 jin of oil.

The Gui Crown Exhibition Hall uses high technology to recreate Chen Jichang's journey to the imperial examination, presenting the process of ancient imperial examinations before our eyes. In this hall, we learned for the first time about the 'Luming Banquet'. In Guilin, the Luming Banquet incorporates osmanthus into dishes and is called the 'Osmanthus Banquet'.

The Gui Charm Exhibition Hall explains the brewing process of osmanthus wine and local customs. Then we walked through the Golden Path, composed of 2,888 bottles of dried osmanthus, symbolizing a bright future.

In the Osmanthus Theme Park, there is a 360-degree transparent glass starry sky house, resembling a holy church, and a crescent moon pool with babbling water. You can also have a picnic or set up a tent on the lawn under the shade of osmanthus trees, feeling the comfort of life when there are no worries—truly a wonderful time.

Visiting the Osmanthus Commune allows you to understand the connection between Guilin and osmanthus, the development history of Guilin city, and the origin and evolution of osmanthus culture. You can also imagine the story of 'Chang'e, Wu Gang, and the Osmanthus Tree' by the crescent moon pool or inside the starry sky house in the Osmanthus Theme Park.