Turn the Yellow Land Green

Turn the Yellow Land Green

2011 International Horticultural Exposition to be held in Xi’an from April 28

The 2011 International Horticultural Exposition (IHE) is coming to Xi’an,capital city of northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. The IHE was last held in Shenyang, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, in 2006.

The expo will showcase new achievements and new products in the areas of landscaping, horticulture, plants and fl owers,environmentally friendly and energy-saving technology, new materials, and hundreds of rare plants and ecological landscapes from different areas and different climate zones around the globe.

The site of the 2011 IHE is located at the Chanba Ecological District of Xi’an. It spreads across a total area of 418 hectares,188 of which are covered by water. The expo will run for 178 days from April 28 to October 22.

The expo takes “Heaven Chang’an,Creative Nature—City and Nature Coexisting in Harmony” as its theme, with“Green Leading Fashion” as its slogan.

Environment

As a fast-growing economy, China—especially during the process of urbanization and industrialization—is paying greater attention to sustainable development, environmental issues and improving people’s livelihoods, said Wang Jun, Deputy Director of the expo’s organizing committee.

He said the expo would show China’s efforts to protect its historical culture and ecological environment in the process of rapid urbanization.

“Xi’an, an inland city, has the potential to become an international city. It has become an example of China’s fast-developing economy. Through the expo, it will demon-

GROWING INTEREST:Tourists visit one of the four main buildings of the expo—the Chang’an Tower

(Left)NATIONAL TREASURE:A giant panda gets used to its new home at the 2011 IHE in Xi’an

GROWING INTEREST:Tourists visit one of the four main buildings of the expo—the Chang’an Tower strate a new image to the world based on its historical culture, natural environment, industrial foundation, advanced technologies,education and abundant natural resources,”Wang said.

Thirty years ago, forest coverage in Shaanxi Province was less than 10 percent. It has now reached 41.26 percent, changing the province from yellow to green, he said.

People in Xi’an are becoming more aware of the importance of environmental protection during the urbanization process.More attention is also being paid to the city’s infrastructure, which is shown in many huge projects, such as the improvement of the Chanba River, Wang said.

“In the process of rapid urbanization,Xi’an hasn’t ignored the protection of its historical heritage and ecological environment,and is a very good example for many other cities in China,” said Li Zhen, a reporter fromChina’s Foreign Trademagazine.

The Guangyun Lake, the venue of the event, was once a dredging operation field and garbage dump where the river was seriously polluted. This was addressed in the past six years and the site was transformed from an ecological disaster area to a famous tourist attraction in the city of Xi’an, Wang said.

Concepts for green life are being introduced to the Xi’an IHE, including simple decoration, low-carbon travel, valuing grain,saving and recycling water and growing fl owers and trees.

“As we know, the concept of the expo is Green Leading Fashion, which means showing the harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature. The demonstration of low-carbon and environment-friendly technologies at the expo also embodies its green concepts,” Li said.

On how to deal with the site’s vast land area when the expo is done, the organizing committee has the answer already. “The main area of the expo will be kept as an eternal legacy of the 2011 Xi’an IHE. About one third of the expo, not including the water area, will be rebuilt to be a theme park for citizens to visit and the remainder will be turned into a creative industry zone,” said Wang.

Highlights

The four main buildings of the expo site are the Chang’an Tower, Greenhouse,Theme Pavilion and the Guangyun Entrance,featuring a blend of classical Chinese architecture and modern Western architecture.

The Chang’an Tower, at 99 meters, has seven fl oors and is made of steel. There is a huge bodhi tree inside the tower, the trunk of which is covered by paintngs of 50 teachers and students from Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts.

SAND-CARVING ART:Sand-carving will be demonstrated at the expo by nine artists from around China using 7,000 cubic meters of sand

The expo will be featured with fi ve major horticultural scenic spots—the Chang’an Flower Valley, Colorful Plants from Qinling Mountains, Flowers along the Silk Road,the Overseas Collections and the Flower Rainbow over the Ba River.

As well, there are three characteristic zones: Romance by the Ba River, Southeast Asian Street and European Avenue, each introducing different lifestyles from different continents.

“This year’s expo has added many international factors, allowing normal Chinese to enjoy world culture without stepping out of the country,” Li said.

Additionally, gorgeous works of art,sculptures from China and abroad, such as theFantastic Forest, theSilk Road, theTree Branch Horseand theWater Dragon, will be on show during the expo, which will enable visitors to fully experience the beauty of an amalgamation of gardening, horticulture,architecture and culture.

It will also be the fi rst time the IHE host city has introduced rare animals, as the organizing committee has invited four national treasures of China to live in the site from March 28, 2011. They are the Four Qinling Legends: namely, the giant panda, takin,crested ibis and the golden monkey.

“People only know Sichuan Province is home to giant pandas, but west China is also one of the important habitats for the animal,”Wang said.

International communication is another highlight of the expo. There will be 12 international exhibitions, seven of which are international contests and fi ve are international exhibitions. The competition pavilion was especially built for the occasion and the fi rst one to take place was the orchid contest which ran from April 23. The result will be unveiled during the exhibition’s opening ceremony.

Many masters of the art of horticulture were hired to design this year’s IHE. The Chang’an Tower was designed by Zhang Jingqiu, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. For the fi rst time in the history of the IHE, nine horticultural parks for masters in horticultural art and 10 parks for universities have been designed by teachers and students from world-famous horticultural schools. These will be filled with works representing the world’s highest level of the art of horticulture.