Red kapok flowers, as red as fire

Kapok flowers blossom in Foshan, South China's Guangdong province, March 26, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Kapok is a kind of tropical tree found in southern China, and known to Chinese people as mumian, "cotton tree". People in Guangzhou have long been growing Kapok trees, using its cotton to make clothes and its flowers to make herbal tea.

People in Guangzhou dry kapok flowers to preserve them, believing that they are good for health when living in hot and humid places. In 1982, Kapok flowers were chosen as the official flower of Guangzhou.