Statistics from the city's government show that the city has cultivated more than 1,200 species of peonies.

"Almost every household in Wangqiao village grows peonies. More than 20 million fresh peonies are sold through online platforms every year," he says.

The fresh flowers in the village are also being sold to countries including the Netherlands and Belgium through cross-border e-commerce platforms.

Annual e-commerce sales of peony products including fresh flowers and seeds have surpassed 300 million yuan ($46 million).

In addition to sightseeing, the city has extended its flower business by developing various peony related products which include seed oil, tea and dried flowers.

Peony seeds are used to make cooking oil, and petal extracts are used in cosmetics, perfumes and essential oils. The pistils are made into tea and the roots can be used in Chinese herbal medicine.

According to the Peony Industry Development Center of Heze, the city now has 14 enterprises engaged in developing peony products. More than 240 kinds of peony products are now being sold in the markets.

However, compared with the peony sightseeing business which has already bloomed, the peony processing business is developing at a slow pace, says Chen Xuexiang, deputy director of the center.

"Many people have no idea that the cooking oil produced from peony seeds is very healthy, since it contains a lot of alpha-linolenic acid, which is very helpful to brain cells," he says.

Chen adds that the next step will be to place greater effort into developing more market-oriented peony products to make the peony business bloom not only in the cultural and tourism sector, but also in the agricultural and processing sectors to bring more benefits to farmers.

ZHAO RUIXUE in Heze, Shandong province