Last month , I clock up a record 19,000 kilometer in just four days . I was in Chengdu , the uppercase metropolis of China ’s Sichuan province , which I had wanted to visit for the city ’s Expo 2024 Chengdu . The publisher of this magazine , the International Association of Horticultural Producers ( AIPH ) , is the global governing body which , for the past 60 year , has held a mandate to authorise International Horticultural Expos around the world . exhibition 2024 Chengdu is categorised as an AIPH - approved B - category outside horticultural exhibition .
This approving course comes with many regulation , including the importance of inviting international participation . As a reporter visit the Expo , I can say my initial reaction , debate the sprawling 242 hectares of Expo landscape , which includes involution from 33 state , meets the regulation and exceeds AIPH ’s outlook .
The Expo organisers , who include members of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration , the People ’s Government of Sichuan Province , the municipality of Chengdu , the Chengdu Eastern New Area Administrative Committee , and AIPH member the China Flower Association ( CFA ) , are challenge to plan and host this 186 - Clarence Day international horticultural event . My sojourn is nearly two month into Expo 2024 Chengdu ’s six - month run .
The ' Park City , Beautiful Habitat'- theme outcome opened on 26 April in the presence of China ’s Vice President Han Zheng , the Mayor of Chengdu , Mr Wang Fengchao , China Flower Association President Ms Jiang Zehui , Mr Huang Qiang , Governor of the People ’s Government of Sichuan Province , and Leonardo Capitanio and Tim Briercliffe , AIPH President and Secretary General respectively .
At the opening ceremony , the organising committee pulled out all the stops for a corking show . soldier raised the national flag of the People ’s Republic of China , and then Expo volunteers raised AIPH ’s one . Scores of military personnel and women in colorful traditional outfits and hundreds of perfectly choreograph - waving children and babe dressed in panda suits come together in a great display of preciseness to fete horticulture .
Visitor numbers are expected to be five million . When I arrive at the closing of May , the Chinese horticultural extravaganza proceed to die hard like clockwork , with overall attending more or less in line with expectations . Since my visit , in a 25 June update , organiser have told FCI magazine that the good May and June weather has helped get in about half of the expected visitors across all Expo sites , including the submarine - locus .
During China ’s public vacation on 1 May , visitors in their tens of thousands constellate to Chengdu for the Expo . The urban center is affectionately nicknamed ' the land of teemingness ' and famously known as the hometown of the giant pandas , spicy blistering flowerpot , and flowers and plants . Along with Beijing , Shanghai , Hangzhou , and Chongqing , you’re able to understand why this city is also in China ’s top five most popular tourist name and address .
Until 28 February 2025 , Expo 2024 Chengdu is in the master venue of Chengdu Eastern New Area , a estimable one - hour and half - hour crusade from Chengdu ’s city centre and Tianfu International Airport , respectively . Plus , there are four sub - locus dust around the city ring ; Pidu in the northwest , Wenjiang in the west , and Xinjin and Qionglai , both in the southwest .
The event ’s layout can be roughly split into three zones dedicated to Chinese Gardens , International Gardens and Corporate Gardens . Star attractions admit a giant white-hot Ferris wheel and pagoda offering striking vista over an area that post - exhibition will be a interracial - use development with potential for G of new rest home and a commercial-grade office , park , retail and amusement dominion .
Perseverance and dedicationIn the Expo ’s preparation stage not all was come up roses . There were the common cost overproduction , time lag in mental synthesis , and connectivity concerns in special because the main site is rather distant from downtown Chengdu .
Winds of modification play their part . AIPH approved the show in 2020 . before long after , with its Five - Year Plan 2021 - 2025 for National Economic and Social Development , China ushered in a new type of politics focused on food availability and nutrient production .
With this in mind , charm Chinese policy about the far - reach benefits of flowers and plant – from championing environmental preservation to supercharge economic successfulness and enhance private eudaimonia – can not always be an easy task . So , CFA and its co - organisers deserve credit entry for their perseverance , commitment , and resiliency .
From woodland into flowered extravaganzaUntil last class , much of the Expo Chengdu nation at the main locale was forest interspersed with farmland . Organisers try that at the master venue , 80 per cent of the original landscape painting , host more than 100 native plants , has been left entire . Yet some imagination is necessitate for that as the collage of pavilions , hedging , archways , pool , jet , loom pagodas , show gardens , and landscape orbit is eternal .
The list of planted trees , bush , bulb , perennials , and yearbook is long but not exhaustive . Meanwhile , the River Jiangxi is incessantly thread through the site and is arguably the best model of a really pristine nature .
Speaking of integral nature , although the Chengdu Garden in the Expo ’s Chinese Gardens geographical zone is a military man - made landscape painting , it seems to have walk aside forthwith from Chengdu ’s surrounding snow - capped mountains . The space utilise contorted pines and grasses , the standout Aspidistra elatior ' spectacular ' [ more on that after ] and a striking waterfall . It is a muscular admonisher of how beautiful nature can be just by look at it . The Chengdu Garden is peaceful and immersive . It combine rocks and boulders with plants , creating well - debilitate conditions that mime the botanical gem treasure trove of Sichuan .
The province is lay claim to be home to 10,720 heritage trees composed of 123 species belonging to 42 families and 81 genus . Standing out prominently are the protected Phoebe zennan ( a orotund Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree up to 30 cadence tall in the Lauraceae phratry ) , the Taiwanese weeping cypress tree , Cupressus funebris , and Malus halliana , the lowly Hall crab orchard apple tree , without block the highly fear Gingko biloba , which is weigh a symbolization of longevity , endurance , and hope in China .
In finicky , Western Sichuan is a hotspot for biodiversity . There , more than a hundred years ago , European plant huntsman found and bring in back family species they had never take in before such as the Chinese hardwood Davidia involucrate- known as dove tree , Cornus kousa , genus Lilium regale , and Begonia grandis ( featuring notch olive - green leaf to 10 cm long , light green or sometimes reddish below , and clusters of slimly fragrant pale pink or white flower 2 - 3 centimetre across , on farseeing ruddy stems in summer , not exceptionally hardy ) .
Instagram - capable BeijingIt is no surprise that Beijing , the commonwealth ’s capital , has its name written in chapiter in the Chinese Gardens zone . The urban center of Beijing built one of the Expo ’s heavy gardens , home to a musical score of ' Instagram - able-bodied ' building and an exciting planting root , with Hemerocallis and Cynara cardunculus being the genius of the flower show .
I love roll across this gorgeous spiritual position even if I could n’t read the Chinese planetary house . inadequate signage for international visitors is a missed opportunity now that we are on this subject .
How wondrous it would have been if the Expo in tech - savvy China had used digital signage to communicate ethnic , diachronic , and botanical data . In a crowded expo surround , capturing attendees ' attention apace is unmanageable , especially when signage — if present — is only in the native lingua .
In the host ’s Chengdu Garden , for example , botanic diehards endlessly discussed the right name of a standout foliage works with dotted leaves . Was it Aspidistra elatior '' spectacular ' , or Aspidistra sichuanensis ' Ginga ' . [ Anyone who knows the correct solvent , please grouse ! ]
Anyhow , with the sort help of Ms Rhong Luo of the horticultural consultancy business firm Rhong Consultancy , we could eventually decode the messages of what Rhong says are typically Beijing - style buildings , annexe teashop , and restaurants .
The antithetical dyad on both side of the door ( which in China bring good luck ) reads that the house overlooking the lake is named after ' Ju Fangge ' . The text call for masses to occur inside and savour upright wine and fantabulous food . It also reference the garden ’s aesthetic beauty .
Floral bonanzaShanghai ’s butterfly - mold Yuanyi Garden and the planting surrounding the Expo ’s Hibiscus petals - work pavilion largely contribute to the flowered bonanza .
More than 25 hibiscus varieties are on exhibit , including a showstopping undulated landscape planted with three - metre tall Hibiscus mutabilis trees .
In Western Europe , such heights are unthinkable as the plant will mostly stay a bombastic , spreading , frost - sensitive shrub with stems cover in soft star - shaped hair and plushy green - serrated foliage . We slightly rue being in late spring . It is too other to look up to the flora ’s funnel - shaped heyday in snowy and pink .
Hibiscus is the prescribed flower of the Expo 2024 Chengdu and symbolises the city of Chengdu . Its reddish and pinkish chromaticity are used in the Expo ’s logo . Hibiscus incarnate nobility , determination , unity , and harmony , state the organiser ' devout wishes and inhalation for a successful Expo 2024 Chengdu .
The Shu Brocade Flower Field was inspire by Chengdu ’s C - old custom of brocade manufacturing . A planting scheme of other than imbue heuchera , hollyhocks , paeony , primrose forbesi and hydrangea strigose mirrored the material ’s elaborated and lustrous design . Granted , you also require a routine of imagination here .
A term of enlistment of the worldThe Expo ’s International Exhibition Zone takes visitant on a earth tour . garden are dedicated to several European countries and China ’s less - removed Asian neighbours .
In the Japanese Garden , visitor gaze into the stillness of the ponds and stream used in the 1,200m2 Kofu Garden . Kofu is the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture at the base of Mount Fuji . The ' Valley of Heavily Peace and Happiness'-themed Garden reproduces scene of the Shosenkyo Gorge just up the mountain from the city of Kofu . It use quintessential Japanese constituent such as tea gardens , stone lanterns and red bridge .
Further down the route , the Morocco Garden recall the atmosphere of the Fez tannery , a popular name and address for tourists visiting the country . Inside the real - world tannery , visitors chance hundreds of colourful pools reminiscent of an creative person ’s paint pallette . In Morocco ’s Garden , colour - blocking tagetes and petunia vivify the tannery ’s rainbow of colours .
Morocco ’s Expo neighbor , Egypt , brings beautiful archway , colourful column , and predominate medal trees to the event .
A testament to the century - old expertness in roseate breeding and generation mark by famous names such as Kordes , Tantau , and Werner Noack , were in Germany ’s Garden . It is overtop by a rotunda - regulate construction fence by the fragrant ' Dames de Chenonceau ' .
amazingly , this rose potpourri is bred by famed French breeder Delbard . Also steal this mini rose show are the China rise ( Rosa chinensis ) and the climbing rose ' Billet Doux ' , the latter being a creation of Delbard .
Across the way , Chengdu ’s giant theatre of nature offers a entirely dissimilar stage . A yurt and traditional carriage depict the nomadic life of ancient Mongolia , while a warrior statue also laud the glories of Genghis Khan .
Explosion of coloursCompared with the Mongolian steppe , the Expo ’s Corporate Gardens zona is an plosion of colours . It serves as an external platform for exchange clientele ideas and research determination .
According to Chengdu - ground flower seed company Jinpin Flower Seedling , which is collaborating with German seed party Benary , Expo Chengdu is helping to tone the standoff between China and the residue of the worldly concern in the bedding plant kingdom .
In this part of the Expo , stunning , colourful annuals galore with signature garden build by Sakata , Danziger , Ball Horticultural Company / PanAmerican Seed .
In 2016 , the state - own ChemChina acquired crop protective covering product manufacturer and seed troupe Syngenta . Now Syngenta Flowers used its 1,200 m² show garden to put monolithic marketing muscle behind ornamentals such as Helianthus , Nicotiana , Dahlia and Antirrhinum – alternated with cattle , windmills and geta in realisation of the res publica of bloom .
WenjiangOn day two of our lightning visit , FCI visit the Expo ’s planet appearance in Wenjiang and Pidu , for which , contrary to the main venue , there is no access fee .
Our first stop in Wenjiang was a park , prime and garden show , retail outlet , market place , and school of floristry in one . In the retail shop , Bioloark , a terrarium with sleek built - in lighting and adjustable respiration , was for sales event . However , the situation ’s vainglorious draw was the collecting of specimen orchids , certain to turn the point of Dutch speciality orchidaceous plant specializer such as De Hoog Orchids , Prins , and Inca Orchids .
On display were Bulbophyllum falcatum and Paphiopedilum delenatti . The latter has elegant blush , attractive foliage and , sometimes , a subtle fragrancy . Its parting feature a mottled approach pattern , making it an attractive houseplant even when it is not in efflorescence . Among other attention grabber were Protechea cochleata or clam shell orchid ; Dendrobium secundum , or toothbrush orchid ; and Dendrobium smillieae , the bottle brush orchidaceous plant .
PiduIn the good afternoon , the sojourn concluded in the vivacious Pidu territorial dominion , where we visited the straggle four - hectare Spring Garden site , an indoor complex of power , shoal for floristry , and a wholesale floral market . Here , we witnessed how bouncy on-line selling of blossom and plant is a significant groove to reach a primarily young audience .
At first glance , it look like a heyday shop , but we saw influencers at oeuvre . These are rent by flowered wholesaler to sell ornamentals – in this specific causa , pots engraft with Alcea rosea – on atomic number 99 - DoC livestreams to millions of watching consumers . Non - aboriginal speakers may perceive the negotiation between the presenter and the ' florist ' as a never - end litany . However , talking away for hours , the influencers allow likely customer with complete product specifications , including pot size , pinnacle , variety show , colours , and blooming period , plus some information on where the offer production has been grown .
For more information : AIPHwww.aiph.org
