In this paper, the approach proposed by Mu and Jiang (2008) to obtain the optimal perturbations for triggering blocking (BL) onset is generalized to seek the optimal perturbations triggering onset of the strong zonal flow (SZF) regime. The BL and SZF regimes are characterized by the same dipole-like anomaly pattern superposed on the climatological flow, but with opposite sign. The results show that this method is also superior at finding the initial optimal perturbations triggering onset of the SZF regime, especially in the medium range.Furthermore, by comparing the two kinds of conditional nonlinear optimal perturbations (CNOPs) triggering onset of BL and SZF regimes, we find that in the linear approximation, there is symmetry in the sensitivities for BL and SZF onset, and the perturbations that optimally trigger onset of BL and SZF regimes at times when linear approximation is valid are also characterized by the same spatial pattern but with opposite sign. Whereas when the optimization time is extended to 6 days, the two kinds of CNOPs lose their out-of-phase behavior. The nonlinearity results in an asymmetry between the sensitivity for BL and SZF onset. Additionally, we find that the optimal perturbations have one common property, which is that the second baroclinic mode contributes more to the initial perturbations while the barotropic mode dominates the final structures.