One of the really beautiful things that happens in Northeast Asia in the spring is the almost mystical flowering of the cherry blossom trees. Every year, without fail, as soon as the weather warms and the chill of winter has been chased away, the white flowers start to appear on the trees that are scattered throughout China and Japan.
The first thing you notice is that little pink buds start to appear on the ends of the trees and in the nodules of the branches. Then, ever so slowly, as the wather warms a few degrees more, there appears a white flower. First just one or two but after three days whole trees and groves of the winding trunks are covered with the white petals.
It doesnt last long, this display of nature, one week, maybe ten days at the most, but while it is here people travel from all over by bus and car, loading up the whole family, just to see these white flowers.
