NEW TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The 2025 Wanjin Azalea Festival (萬金杜鵑花展) is in full swing across New Taipei City, with colorful blooms expected to dazzle visitors until the end of March. The New Taipei City Agriculture Bureau (新北市農業局) made the announcement in mid-March, inviting locals and tourists alike to experience this seasonal spectacle that transforms the region into a floral paradise. As temperatures rise and spring settles across northern Taiwan, the festival offers a welcome respite from urban life with its expansive displays of vibrant azaleas.
Visitors to the festival can witness azaleas at their peak flowering period across multiple venues throughout the region. Beyond the main exhibition areas in Jinshan (金山) and Wanli (萬里), the festival circuit extends to several cultural landmarks including the serene Dharma Drum Mountain (法鼓山), the educational Taipower Exhibit Center in Northern Taiwan (台電北部展示館), and the rustic charm of Jimberly Farm Manor (金包里農舍莊園). This distributed approach allows visitors to experience the azaleas in varied settings, from manicured parks to spiritual retreats.
According to bureau officials, Zhongshan Hot Springs Park (中山溫泉公園) in Jinshan stands as one of the festival's crown jewels, where 10,000 meticulously maintained azaleas create a tapestry of colors against the park's natural landscape. Within this floral sanctuary, the specialized azalea art museum showcases 22 distinct varieties, many of which represent years of careful cultivation by local horticulturists. Among these cultivars are several pioneering varieties developed through the expertise of renowned local florist Liu Zhi-fang (柳枝芳), whose work represents the intersection of agricultural tradition and botanical innovation.
The Wanli exhibition area presents an even more ambitious display with 23,000 azaleas strategically planted throughout its tourist park and the expansive grounds of Masu Sports Park (瑪鋉運動公園). These blooms are anticipated to reach their visual zenith in late March, offering latecomers a spectacular finale to the festival season. In a notable development for this year's celebration, Dharma Drum Mountain has opened its meditation-focused prayer trail to the public for the first time, where visitors can walk among nearly 7,000 pristine snow-white azaleas that create an ethereal atmosphere against the mountain's spiritual backdrop.
The Agriculture Bureau has characterized the experience at Dharma Drum Mountain as nothing short of "stepping into a terrestrial paradise," where the convergence of natural beauty and spiritual tranquility offers a unique dimension to the festival experience. Photography enthusiasts are particularly encouraged to capture memories along the prayer trail, where the contrast between architectural elements and floral displays creates striking visual compositions. As a memento of their visit, guests can collect a special commemorative Wanjin Azalea sticker, a small but cherished token of this seasonal celebration.
