Feature: China Bamboo Garden shines at Netherlands world horticulture expo

ALMERE, the Netherlands, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The China Bamboo Garden, a poetic landscape featuring flowers and bamboos, has become a highlight among national pavilions at a decennial world horticultural exhibition, which opened here Thursday in Almere, the Netherlands.

Covering an area of 4,200 square meters, the garden is the largest among national pavilions at the expo. It reflects the concept of "Growing Green Cities," the theme of the Floriade Expo 2022, through its innovative use of bamboo processing materials and techniques that draws inspiration from traditional Chinese culture.

The garden's main entrance design is inspired by bamboo slips, the earliest form of books in ancient China, where bamboo was among the essential writing materials before the invention of paper.

Red and yellow tulips planted on both sides of the entrance represent the long-lasting friendship between China and the Netherlands. This year marks the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Inside the garden, an arched bamboo bridge over a placid moon pond, nine miniature flower fields and a spacious bamboo house erected over a pool of clear springs, naturally blend into a serene, poetic and healing landscape.

Annemarie Jorritsma, commissioner-general of Floriade Expo 2022 and former deputy prime minister of the Netherlands, was among the many visitors to the bamboo garden.

"It's bamboo, a traditional material but used in very new ways," Jorritsma told Xinhua. "I like the entrance. It's beautiful."

She was also impressed by the "modern" design of the bridge and the house, adding she believes it will appeal to the tastes of young people.

The "beautiful, nice and quiet Chinese garden" with flowers and other plants shows that China has "done its utmost" to show how it relates to the theme of the exhibition, namely, "Growing Green Cities," she observed.

Jorritsma also expressed her best wishes that her country and China build on their economic and trade links to make the bilateral relationship "become even better."

Ju Pengjie, on-site construction chief for the China Bamboo Garden, told Xinhua that the garden is like "a three-dimensional Chinese painting."

Flowers and bamboo hold an irreplaceable spot in the hearts of Chinese people, he said. "We hope to present to the world the Chinese people's aspiration for a better life, their understanding of the concept of green ecology and their endeavor to explore the building of a green city through the integration and presentation of flowers and bamboo."

The China Bamboo Garden will also host the China National Pavilion Day and theme events of some Chinese provinces and cities during the exhibition period. Other cultural events showcasing bamboo handicrafts, Chinese intangible cultural heritage and Chinese painting and calligraphy will also be held here.

Around 2 million people are expected to visit Floriade Expo 2022, which runs until Oct. 9.

Floriade is a once-a-decade world horticultural exhibition in the Netherlands. Its first edition was held in 1960 in Rotterdam.

Focusing on the need to combine nature and cities, the expo hopes that participants present green solutions that make cities "more fun, sustainable and liveable."

According to the United Nations World Cities Report 2020, 55 percent of the world's population resides in urban areas, and the rate is expected to grow to 68 percent by 2050.