Chengdu ready to lift curtain on horticultural expo

All preparations for the opening of the International Horticultural Exhibition 2024 Chengdu on Friday have been completed and it is ready to welcome visitors from around the world, a senior expo official said on Tuesday.

With the theme "Park City, Beautiful Habitat", the expo in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, will run through Oct 28. It will showcase a diverse collection of flower and plant species, and gardening cultures from all over the world.

The installation of exhibitions at all 113 exhibition parks in the seven major exhibition areas of the main venue, as well as six core pavilions, has been completed, Zhang Yinchao, office director of the expo's organizing committee and secretary-general of the China Flower Association, told a news conference in Chengdu.

"The operational teams of the parks and pavilions are now all in place and have conducted several rehearsals and stress tests," he said.

Zhang said the four branch venues in Chengdu's Wenjiang, Pidu and Xinjin districts and Qionglai, a county-level city under Chengdu's administration, have also completed construction and are undergoing trial operations.

He said the expo will serve as a platform for cultural exchanges among diverse cultures from China and abroad, and will form a beautiful picture of harmonious coexistence between people and nature.

"Apart from the exhibitions, more than 2,000 activities will be held during the 186-day event, including eight international professional competitions that will showcase the latest varieties, technologies and achievements in the field of horticulture," he said, adding that the expo is expected to attract five million visitors.

Yang Min, deputy office director of the expo's executive committee and deputy director of the administrative committee of Chengdu East New Area, said the main venue, covering 242.2 hectares, will feature more exhibition parks and international exhibition parks than similar domestic events held previously.

The 39 international exhibition parks, established by countries from five continents, bring together world gardening styles including a Chinese landscape garden, Italian terrace garden, French palace-style garden, and a British natural landscape garden, he said.

Yang said Chinese and Western restaurants at the venue can provide 3,700 dining seats at the same time, while hotels around the main venue will offer more than 7,000 guest rooms. Mobile food trucks and drones will also be used for food delivery, he said.

The main venue will feature a variety of experiential activities, such as a music fountain show, lawn music fair and iron flower show, as well as more than 100 cultural and creative products in 10 categories.

Zhou Jun, deputy director of the executive committee's publicity department and deputy director of Chengdu's park city construction administration bureau, said a series of "Chengdu theme week "activities will be held during the five-day May Day holiday, which starts on May 1.

They will feature unique Chengdu elements such as giant pandas and Sichuan Opera, allowing tourists to have a deeper understanding of the host city's rich culture and history, he said.