Savor the Flavors of Chinese Classical Gardens

By staff reporter DANG XIAOFEI

ON May 18， Beijing proudly announced the start of the Ninth China （Beijing） International Garden Expo， embracing another chance to showcase its beauty to the world following the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The Expo will close on November 18， after a 6-month run.

The site of the Beijing Garden Expo is located on the banks of the Yongding River in southwestern Beijing， built over a former constructionwaste landfill. Cutting-edge ecological restoration techniques transformed the former wasteland into an alluringly lush garden， embodying the Expos philosophy of “transforming foul into beautiful”through ecological restoration. The site， composed of 128 parks， covers an area of 513 hectares， twice the size of the Summer Palace.

Essence of Chinese Gardens

“For foreign visitors， the biggest draw is the fact that they can appreciate some of the best Chinese regional gardens without traveling all over the country，” said Qiao Xiaopeng， vice director of the Information Department of Fengtai District Government. “These are full-scale reproductions， not miniatures.”

When the Beijing Garden Expo kicked off， it welcomed 200，000 visitors in the first five days. The Museum of Chinese Gardens and Landscape Architecture， the Main Exhibition Pavilion， Beijing Garden， J iangsu Garden and Lingnan Garden have proven the most appealing to tourists so far.

The museum， Chinas first of national caliber， is a particular must-see at the Expo. On its 50，000-square-meter premises， some of Chinas best known private gardens were partially or wholly recreated on 1：1 scale， in addition to new designs tailor-made for the local topography.

Included are replicas of three classical gardens from the South： Changyuan Garden of Suzhou， Yuyin Mountain House of Guangzhou and Pianshi Mountain House of Yangzhou， all more than a century old. A section of Beijings Banmu Garden， dating from the reign of Qing Emperor Kangxi（1662-1722）， was also recreated as representative of landscape architecture from Chinas northern plains. The museum dedicated two additional plots to the northern school： Sunset Glow Mountain House and Pagoda Reflection Garden， which respectively feature mountain and water scenes of Eagle Mountain， where the museum is located. A miniature of the Summer Palace， covering 250 square meters， was included as a token to royal gardening art. The scenery varies drastically and quickly as visitors move from place to place， creating an ideal“picture tour.”

The 3.2-hectare Main Exhibition Pavilion of the Beijing Garden Expo， with floor space of 50，000 square meters， is the major venue for indoor displays and activities. Its design was inspired by the China Rose and intended to reflect the “origin of life” concept. When viewed from above， the pavilion also resembles the number nine， representing the fact that the Beijing installment is the ninth International Garden Expo.

Inside the pavilion， a 3D animated film is screened displaying a famous ancient painting of Lugou Bridge， which depicts a scene of rafts transporting logs on the Yongding River and unloading them at Lugou Bridge in southwestern Bejing. Large quantities of timber and other materials were shipped to Beijing for a colossal construction project after it was selected the new capital of the Yuan Dynasty （1271-1368）.

The pavilion has dedicated most its space to exhibitions featuring foreign and domestic garden art， new technology， material and achievements in gardening and forestation， and artistic products related to gardening， rare rocks， flower arrangements and potted plants.

J iangsu Garden， an assembly of various centerpieces of timeless gardens throughout the southern province， is another Expo highlight. Its 13，000 square meters are characterized by diverse conceptual space showcasing classical J iangnan garden design techniques and embodies harmony between humans and nature. Elegantly arranged rocks， pavilions and painted corridors， a slim bridge over a lotus pool， and inscriptions on buildings， all unfurl along winding paths like the scroll of a traditional Chinese painting.

J iangsu Garden is just one quintessential display amongst 128 regional gardens at the expo， including 47 from Chinese cities and 32 presented by foreign countries.

Also， three globally celebrated landscape archi- tects， Pete Walker from the U.S.， Peter Latz from Germany and Toru Mitani from J apan， each designed a garden in Innovation Exhibition Park， one of the most visionary pieces of the Beijing Garden Expo.

Botanical Wonders

Along with garden architecture， botanical gardens are also stars of the Beijing Garden Expo. Estimates tally over 12 million trees， shrubs and flowers across 147 hectares of continuously green land. Most of the trees are water-thrifty and droughtresistant indigenous species. According to conservative calculations， such trees can absorb 15 million tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Meanwhile， ecological green corridors were meticulously constructed along roads， squares， rest areas and parking lots to cover them in dense shade， which protects tourists from the scorching summer sun.

“We planted big tracts of cherry and lilac trees and more， which will create impressive scenery with each season， giving tourists a stunning visual experience，” Qiao Xiaopeng said.

J inxiu Valley features ecological gardening over a lowland of 140 hectares. Formerly the largest landfill for construction and urban waste in Beijing， the region is now brimming with vibrant colors. New cutting-edge technology was introduced to maintain lush vegetation in the formerly drab， lifeless land with minimal irrigation. One technology was dubbed the “smart irrigation” system. Local trees are monitored by an automated water-management system， which determines the specific water intake of each tree according to its age， species and other information. After every rainfall， a monitoring system calculates how much rain fell around the trees and how much was absorbed. The allocation of water for each tree can then be adjusted based on this data， which boosts the parks irrigation efficiency by 50 percent.

Also， designers gave J inxiu Valley a complete rain collection system that recycles all rainfall in the region to use for irrigation.

Online E-Tickets

The expos organizers signed a ticket deal with visitbeijing.com.cn， a popular travel website. Electronic tickets were declared the official form， a first for a large-scale event in China.

Visitbeijing.com.cn is running a special feature for the Beijing Garden Expo in nine languages： Chinese， English， J apanese， Korean， French， Russian， German， Spanish and Arabic. When buying electronic tickets online， tourists can also find the latest updates about expo activities.

Seven different types of tickets are available， such as a standard day ticket for RMB 100， a designated day ticket for RMB 150， a night ticket for RMB 70. “Designated day” tickets are reserved for big holidays such as Dragon Boat Festival， MidAutumn Festival， National Day and high-volume dates， for a total of 16 days.

Volunteer services have proven vital to the Expos success： 13，000 volunteers are involved in the event， whether guiding visitors or aiding media representatives. Almost all volunteers are familiar with at least one foreign language in addition to other skills.

Visitors will also find 27 eating choices that cover Chinese fast food brands， Western fast food brands， native Chinese snack stands， beverage bars and a cafe. The eating area can seat 5，000 people at once.

Moreover， the Expo has released 700 choices of official merchandise across 11 major categories such as toys， potted plants， apparel， shoes， theme gifts and stationery. To enhance shopping convenience for visitors， 16 franchised stores have opened in the vicinity of the Garden Expo Park.

During the Expo， along with appreciating amazing scenic spots， visitors also get the chance to enjoy a rich assortment of events including parades， musical entertainment， theme weeks and days and much more.