that the blossom actually originated in China, the Xinhua news agency said on Monday. Experts had found more than 20 varieties of tulips in the Qinghai-Tibetan plateau in western China and in the far-flung northwestern region of Xinjiang, Xinhua said. That was proof China was one of the original birthplaces of the flower, it quoted Liang Shuhai, deputy secretary of Qinghai province`s Flower Association, as saying. "In the Middle Ages, European crusaders once reached the northwestern part of China and brought the tulip back to middle Asia," Xinhua quoted Liang as saying. "Later, in the 17th century, the flower was brought into the Netherlands and other European areas," Liang said. While the tulip is a major export of countries such as the Netherlands, Xinhua said China lagged far behind in cultivating the flower even though it could be grown in many regions. Tulip research and cultivation centres had been set up in the provinces of Gansu, Qinghai, Zhejiang and Sichuan, Xinhua said but gave no further details.

Autor: Reuteres