Splendid peony flowers, charming orchids, tulips in full bloom, Maitreya trees with big bellies, cacti in various postures... In the Beijing Expo Park on the banks of the Guishui River, lush plants exude vitality.

A grand event with plants as the protagonists has brought gardening into people's vision. When it comes to gardening, some people will think of Tao Yuanming's Peach Blossom Spring, while others will think of H?lderlin's "people live poetically". In fact, gardening is not far away, it is around us. What wonderful experiences can gardening bring to our lives? How can the gardening industry develop better in the future? The Beijing Expo has given us the answer.

A visitor takes a rest in the Tianjin Garden of the Beijing Expo. Xinhua News Agency

1. Strolling in the "Peach Blossom Spring" - Flowers and Grasses are Like Poems and Pictures

"Suddenly, I came across a peach blossom forest, which was hundreds of steps along the banks. There were no other trees in the forest, and the grass was fresh and the fallen petals were colorful." Strolling in the Hunan Garden, it was like being in the "Peach Blossom Spring". You can not only appreciate plants such as Xiangfei bamboo, osmanthus, hibiscus, azalea, Xianglian, crape myrtle, and magnolia, but also put on a straw raincoat, pick up a wooden paddle, and step on a boat to feel the charm of the "Xiaoxiang Secret Realm" in the clouds and mist. "The flowers and grasses in the garden are so beautiful, just like poems and pictures, which makes people intoxicated." Xu Xiaoran, a tourist who came from Tianjin to visit, said.

It is not just the Hunan Garden that makes people intoxicated. In the Chinese Horticulture Exhibition Area, various special plants compete for beauty and unique style. Wandering among them, you can enjoy the beauty of horticulture.

China is one of the earliest countries in the world to develop horticulture. On pottery fragments dating back 7,000 years, people have found symbols of plant patterns; on the oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty, wheat, grass, flowers, fruits, forests, gardens, etc. can be identified by shape. More than a hundred years ago, British botanist Wilson praised China as the "mother of world gardens" and provided rich samples for the biodiversity of world gardens.

In addition to Chinese characteristic plants, the park also has rare flowers and trees from different countries and international organizations in the world. For example, the Russian garden has wild strawberries, blueberries, black currants, as well as blooming marigolds and thriving cherry trees; the Indian garden has onion orchids, daylilies, winter cherry blossoms, ground nasturtiums and begonias; the Azerbaijan garden has dahlias, small pansy grass, large needle grass, silver anemones, lupines, coreopsis... Countless characteristic plants appeared on the same stage, fully demonstrating the charm of world gardening.

Tim Blaircliffe, Secretary General of the International Association of Horticultural Producers, said that the Beijing Expo will not only allow visitors to appreciate the wonderful horticulture, but also reflect China's concept of sharing development achievements with the world and pursuing green life.

On May 3, a foreign actor was learning the performance skills of the Jingxi Taiping Drum, a national intangible cultural heritage project, at the Beijing Expo. Photo by Guangming Daily reporter Guo Junfeng/Guangming Pictures

2. Plants have style--natural breath is integrated into life

In the British Garden, which is planted with rosemary, mint, sage and other plants, a staff member introduced that many plants displayed in the garden are essential to maintaining the biodiversity of the grassland. Some seemingly inconspicuous "wild flowers" are actually carefully selected to attract birds, as well as pollinating insects such as bees and butterflies.

The reporter found that many "landscapes" in the British Garden use recyclable materials, such as environmentally friendly huts made of waste plastic bottles, which can receive rainwater for irrigation. "Ecological environment is the foundation of human survival and development. We hope to build homes for various insects through gardening, while promoting plant growth and adding more green to the city." The staff member said.

Gardening, which embodies the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, can not only promote ecological environment restoration, but also make people's lives better.

The grass and trees move with the wind, and the koi swim around in the pond...Walking into the Japanese Garden, a quiet Japanese courtyard comes into view. Moving indoors, plants such as platycodon and peony complement the antique furniture. "With plants, there is style here." Li Yonggang, a post-95 tourist who is studying art design, said that gardening integrates the natural atmosphere into the living space.

"The plants in the Pakistan Garden are all transported from the local area. There, many families have a small garden. In their spare time, they invite a few friends to drink tea and chat in the garden, which is very pleasant." A staff member of the Pakistan Garden said.

Fan Yuan, assistant curator of the Beijing Expo Life Experience Hall, said that gardening plays an important role in improving the ecological environment and improving the happiness index of residents. The ever-developing horticulture industry will bring people more aesthetic enjoyment.

At the Beijing Expo, tourists toured the flower fields. Photo by Guangming Daily reporter Guo Hongsong/Guangming Pictures

3. Horticulture Town relies on creativity - ushering in new development opportunities

How can the horticulture industry develop better in the future? Some answers can be found in the Beijing Expo.

In the horticulture town, creative small gardens created by designers from the United Kingdom, France, Australia and other countries have attracted a large number of tourists to stop and watch. Whether it is the "origami" garden that uses "origami" to create fun, the "drifting" garden that makes people feel the light and shadow of plants, or the "stairs of life" garden that depicts the course of life, they are inseparable from the ingenious design and rich imagination.

Gardening is wonderful because of creativity.

In addition to the colorful sea of flowers and animal shapes such as horses and goats made of different plants, the romantic horticultural town also has craftsmanship displays related to the daily life of Chinese people, such as bamboo carving, paper cutting, rice micro-carving, clay figurine Zhang, lacquer carving, filigree inlay, etc., combining traditional Chinese culture with modern artistic expressions.

Some experts said that the Beijing Expo is an opportunity for China's horticultural industry to actively communicate with exhibitors and horticulturalists from different countries to discuss cutting-edge breeding and cultivation, horticultural design, and innovative technologies, and introduce new concepts, new technologies, and new varieties, so as to expand and strengthen the horticultural industry and better serve the needs of people's better lives.

"The Beijing Expo is an opportunity to showcase more national intellectual property varieties. We hope to stimulate the vitality of horticultural innovation and produce more national and proprietary varieties." said Cong Richen, deputy director of the Beijing Academy of Landscape Architecture.

Data show that driven by the Beijing Expo, Beijing added 710 hectares of urban green space in 2018, and the per capita park green space area reached 16.3 square meters. "Taking advantage of the opportunity of the Beijing Expo, Yanqing District has comprehensively laid out the horticultural industry, improved the urban environment, and gradually shown the benefits of the industry, which has promoted employment for the people." said Wang Shuqin, deputy director of the Yanqing District Bureau of Landscape and Greening, Beijing.

At present, China's horticultural consumer market is becoming more mature, the consumer group is expanding, and the horticultural industry is welcoming new development opportunities. Industry insiders believe that although China's horticultural industry has a good foundation in finished product production, it is still not perfect in the links and chains such as breeding, propagation materials, high-quality product production and sales, especially the shortcomings of independent production of high-quality flower products still need to be made up. Some experts suggest strengthening technological innovation, accelerating the supply-side structural reform of the horticultural industry, improving the commodity rate and quality rate of seedlings and flowers, meeting the diverse and personalized needs of the market and users under the new situation, and solving the contradiction between product production and market demand asymmetry from the source.

Zhang Yunlu, associate professor of the School of Landscape Architecture, Beijing Forestry University, said that the development of the horticultural industry should be based on the characteristics of local resource endowments, reflect local advantages and characteristics of the times, be close to the lives of the people, and should not blindly pursue "big and complete". (Text by Guangming Daily reporter Liu Kunzhang)

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