Even world leaders can be captivated by the simple charm of a rose. During his recent visit to Beijing, US President Donald Trump paused to admire Chinese roses while walking through Zhongnanhai, the historic leadership compound, alongside President Xi Jinping. The roses — growing in what was once an imperial garden — caught the attention of both leaders.
Xi told Trump that one of the trees they admired during their walk was 490 years old, and that he would send the seeds of the Chinese roses they saw in the garden to Trump as a gift. "I love that; it's great," Trump said.
This fleeting moment of shared appreciation reflects what generations have long known: the Chinese rose, or yueji, is more than a decorative plant.
From imperial gardens to neighborhood parks, these resilient, fragrant flowers embellish cultural and urban landscapes around the country, with Beijing the most famous example.
But Chinese roses are not confined to the capital's grand gardens or neighborhood parks. They are widely acknowledged by scientists as the foundation of the modern rose, one of the world's bestselling ornamental plants.
The Chinese rose has a history stretching over 2,000 years, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration and the National Park Administration.
Records date back to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), but it was during the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties that rose cultivation flourished. In those periods, gardeners cultivated a number of ancient, treasured varieties.
When these Chinese roses reached Europe, they sparked a horticultural revolution. European breeders crossed them with local roses, solving long-standing challenges of short flowering seasons and weak fragrances. This exchange set the stage for centuries of hybridization. Today, over 40,000 rose varieties thrive around the world, thanks largely to their Chinese predecessors.
Over the millennia, poets and scholars have celebrated the beauty of Chinese roses. Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi wrote, "Late to bloom after spring departs, it alone flourishes in the courtyard's heart."
Song Dynasty writer Su Shi praised the longevity of its flowering: "Peonies are rare in late spring, and peonies bloom too briefly in early summer, yet this flower blooms without end, claiming all four seasons as its own."
