The Industrial Evolution of a Peony: How Heze Made the "Flower of Wealth and Honor" Bloom into a Billion-Yuan Industry Chain

CNR Hefei, March 23 — (Reporter Cheng Lilang, Correspondent Zhao Zhongyu) In Heze, peony flowers are never just a springtime spectacle. While visitors indulge in the national beauty of Caizhou Peony Garden, these flowers are quietly permeating the city’s economic fabric in another form — evolving from single ornamental plants to a full-chain industry development. Heze peony has undergone a profound industrial transformation.

The peony industry is one of Heze’s most distinctive sectors, with promising prospects and vast potential. Currently, the total output value of the entire peony and floral industry chain in Heze has exceeded 13 billion yuan, directly creating over 100,000 jobs and indirectly supporting more than 500,000 jobs. It has become a pillar industry and a regional brand for wealth and strength. Among them, peony food products continue to innovate through ongoing scientific research, moving peonies from gardens to the “taste buds,” continuously enhancing Heze’s reputation.

In this industrial revolution, Heze Lantianlan Food Co., Ltd. is a notable example. Founded in 1998, the company has consistently played a leading role in Heze’s baking industry. In 2006, while most companies focused on traditional pastries, Lantianlan was among the first to incorporate “peony elements” into food, establishing Heze’s first peony flower mooncake workshop. Yang Gongxiang, the company’s leader, holds a simple yet firm belief: “To make a product, you must pursue perfection. To ensure freshness, from the harvest of peony flowers to finished products, the entire process takes no more than 10 hours.”

This relentless pursuit of quality has allowed Lantianlan to continuously expand in the peony food sector. In 2012, the company registered the “Guo Hua Yan” brand, and the same year, it was designated as the special peony product for VIP reception at the Heze International Peony Festival. In 2017, its peony and peony-related products won the gold medal at the 9th China Flower Expo’s peony and peony herb display area. In 2021, the peony flower cake was listed as part of Heze’s intangible cultural heritage; in 2024, it was included in Shandong Province’s “Taste of Qilu” rural delicacies catalog. Today, Lantianlan’s product range has expanded from initial peony pastries to over 100 varieties, including peony flower cakes, peony petal tea, peony extract drinks, peony wine, peony soda, and peony beer, selling well in more than 20 provinces and cities nationwide.

In 2019, Yang Gongxiang established Shandong Fuxi Peony Biotechnology Co., Ltd. based on Lantianlan, signaling a deeper foray into the peony industry. The founding of Fuxi Peony marked a strategic shift from food processing to biotech. The company collaborates with over ten universities and research institutes, including Beijing Technology and Business University and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, undertaking more than ten projects in basic and applied peony research. From “a flower for each mooncake” to developing bioactive substances from peony extracts, Fuxi Peony is extending the industry chain toward higher value.

At the peony product distribution outlet of Heze Lantianlan Food Co., Ltd., located on Huaying Road in Luxi New District, products such as peony cakes, fresh flower mooncakes, peony petal tea, and peony leaf tea are displayed prominently.

Notably, three peony beverages are showcased on the display cabinet: “These are our developed peony soda, peony beer, and white peony beer. The flavors will definitely keep you coming back,” Yang Gongxiang, general manager of Heze Lantianlan Food Co., Ltd., told reporters with a smile.

According to Yang, all three drinks are made with pure natural peony extract water and other peony ingredients, developed in collaboration with multiple provincial universities over more than a year. “For example, our peony soda has a rich floral aroma and flavor, and it was very popular upon launch. The peony beer is gradually being distributed to the market, and I believe as temperatures rise, sales will quickly increase.”

“To ensure product freshness, from harvest to finished product, the entire process takes no more than 10 hours,” Yang said. He is committed to bringing peonies from gardens to people’s taste buds. “Our peony flower mooncakes use fresh peony flowers as filling, with one flower per mooncake. We follow traditional recipes, using pure vegetarian peony flower filling and vegetarian lard, with strict, scientific processing at every step. We’ve reformed the pre-treatment of raw peony flowers, adopting low-temperature fermentation techniques, which develop a fragrant, mellow flavor during fermentation, highly favored by consumers.”

“Similarly, our peony tea series is made by harvesting blooming peonies early in the Gu Yu season, between 6 and 8 a.m., and delivering them quickly to the tea processing workshop, where they are processed into peony flower tea and petal tea within 2-3 hours to preserve freshness,” Yang explained, raising a cup of brewed peony petal tea. “Peony flower pigments contain abundant antioxidants, and the petals are rich in total phenolic acids, flavonoids, vitamin E, and other bioactive substances, making them a natural choice for healthy drinking.”

Lantianlan Food is continuously diversifying its peony products. “Products may be replaced over time, but our R&D technology will not,” Yang said. Looking ahead, he plans to focus on deep processing of peony products and high-tech bio-extraction.

“By maintaining a market-oriented approach, enhancing the competitiveness and overall benefits of the peony industry, we will continue to strengthen cooperation with universities and research institutions, boost scientific innovation, aim for world-class standards, produce the best peony products, and build top brands. We want Lantianlan peony foods to spread far and wide,” Yang stated.

Peony, with its noble elegance, is being integrated into the public’s daily life through peony foods, transforming abstract cultural qualities into tangible everyday scenes. High-quality peony products are becoming part of daily life, entering households and reaching consumers, making the beauty of life everywhere.

Looking across Heze, the peony industry’s prospects are even more expansive. The city has gathered over 120 enterprises involved in peony production, processing, and export, developing more than 260 products across 11 major categories, including peony seed oil, tea, cosmetics, functional foods, and biomedicine. Peony companies excel in niche fields such as peony petal tea, active ingredient extraction, and medicinal root bark, forming a comprehensive industry chain covering pharmaceuticals, food, daily chemicals, and tourism.

More excitingly, the value of peonies is being fully exploited—roots used in medicine, seeds pressed for oil, petals processed into tea, flowers made into cakes, and branches and leaves extracted for flavonoids and peony phenols, maximizing plant utilization. Currently, Heze’s fresh-cut peony flowers sell over 120 million stems annually, accounting for more than 60% of the national market share, making it the largest peony fresh-cut flower production base in China. The “double bloom” pattern of peonies and peony herbs has taken shape.

From a single flower to an entire industry chain, from ornamental economy to a billion-yuan industry, the transformation of Heze peonies proves a simple truth: when cultural heritage meets industrial thinking, and traditional advantages are combined with technological innovation, the “noble flower” can truly blossom into a “wealth-bringing flower.” As Yang Gongxiang said, “Products may be replaced, but R&D technology will not.” On the new path led by scientific research and cross-sector integration, Heze peonies are blooming with even more captivating industry brilliance.