Green Leads the Fashion

We got to Xi’An after what I can only describe as the happiest flying experience of my life. I did not know seats and flight attendants could be so colorful, that people did in flight exercises or that the landing tune would be a Chinese version of ‘On the Bayou’,  but all were welcome.

The International Horticultural Exposition in Xi’An is one of the principal reasons for our trip here. It’s put on annually around the world by a Swiss horticultural group. We submitted a garden design last fall that was accepted. The garden was based around the concept of phytoremediation as a solution to industrial waste in the landscape. Although time ran out on the construction of our garden, we received tickets to attend the expo and a few phones calls got us around to see everything quite easily.
    
Our time at the expo fell on a usually hot day for Xi’An. Temperatures reached 35 C and we were on the pavement all day. Thankfully we were cajoled into buying hats for the occasion.

The mascot of the Expo followed us through Xi’An. It was displayed everywhere, from the Terra Cotta warrior site to the taxi’s.

The expo itself was enjoyable. It’s construction and advertising reminded me of a theme park in certain ways. Unlike most developments of this scale, a year ago the entire property was farmland. The Expo features a section on China’s provinces where I got the chance to learn about more than I could travel to. There was a zoo section with pandas, an international section with country’s gardens selling souvenirs, and a lot of surprising things done with plant materials.


The Master Garden Section had designs by West 8, Wang Xiangrong, and Martha Swartz, representing the USA with her garden design. I know this will seem biased but that design was my favorite, with one-way mirrors along the outside walls that were designed to give you a glimpse into what people do when they think noones watching. We yelled to a woman with no avail as she fixed her hair right in front of us. Brilliant