Themed "Tasting Changshu Culture, Admiring Changshu Scenery", the month-long festival highlights 10 main activities and 10 supporting activities, such as peony festivals, national opera fan competition, Guqin performers gathering and village cultural market.

In recent years, Changshu has integrated culture and tourism and launched a series of characteristic products such as regimen tour, team-building tour and study tour, thus forming a unique tourism product system, said Shen Xiaodong, Chairman of the Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Changshu Municipal Committee, at the opening ceremony of the festival.

He added that Changshu was at the second place on the Top 100 county list nationwide in terms of county-level comprehensive tourism strength. Its Yushan Cultural Tourism Resort was honored as a national-level tourist resort and dubbed "National Leisure Tourism Destination." Changshu is favored by tourists from home and abroad thanks to its rich tourism resources and well-developed facilities.

It is also learned that the Shanghu Peony Festival is a sub-venue of the 2024 World Peony Conference. Changshu peony is expected to be known worldwide through the interaction between Shanghu Peony Festival, Heze main venue in east China's Shandong Province and Shimane sub-venue in Japan.

This year's peony festival, held both online and offline, has rolled out brand new activities, such as nine-color peony petal rain, flower and bird painting exhibition, the peony fairy parade and special performances, with an aim to build the Shanghu peony brand and make Changshu peony more famous.

Organized by government authorities of Changshu, the festival focuses on various aspects including tourism festival, sports and leisure, folk culture, intangible cultural heritage exhibitions, and food experience.