The 2023 Chengdu Park City International Garden Season and the 6th BFU International Garden-Making Week kicked off this Monday at the Yima River Park, Chengdu’s Longquanyi District. Themed around the “Garden of Vitality,” the initiative invites all participants to build gardens with bamboo, herbs and other additional materials.

16 works by students and 4 by professional designers, which stood out from more than 300 entries submitted by teams from domestic and overseas colleges and universities, were built by their respective teams in the Yima River Park. The bamboo-structured gardens are currently open to the public and remain open until August 8.

The event is guided by the Chinese Society of Landscape Architecture (CHSLA) and International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR), jointly sponsored by the CHSLA’s Education Working Committee, Beijing Forestry University (BFU), Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Park City Construction and Management and Longquanyi District People’s Government, Chengdu, and jointly organized by the Chengdu Society of Landscape Architecture, BFU’s School of Landscape Architecture, Park City Construction and Urban Renewal Bureau of Longquanyi District and Chengdu Park City Construction and Development Research Institute.

With the theme of the “Garden of Vitality,” the program is aimed to highlight the charm and beauty of the natural and human landscapes of Chengdu, a park city with green and sustainable development. Serving as a platform for teachers and students from colleges and universities both at home and abroad to know more and better about the urban construction and development of Chengdu, as well as for industry insiders from the gardening and landscaping sector to exchange professional views and knowledge, the event probed into new challenges and opportunities facing the park city, injecting new vigor and vitality into the International Horticultural Exhibition to take place here in Chengdu next year.

The theme of the event is rooted in Chengdu’s sports culture, which features innovation and creation, optimism and inclusiveness, as well as vitality and wonderfulness, to usher in the 31st FISU Summer World University Games to be held in the city between July 28 and August 8.

The construction teams of the 20 works finished their productions in four days. Zheng Xi, President of the Beijing Forestry University, said that the culturally-enriched bamboo-structured gardens are environmentally-friendly and embody artistic aesthetics. The poetic and romantic environment created by bamboo reflects Chengdu’s profound culture, concept of ecological civilization, and unremitting efforts towards green growth.

The gardens are located in the Yima River Park, a core ecological area in Longquanyi District. Adjacent to both the Dong’an Lake Sports Park, the main venue for the 31st FISU Summer World University Games, and Longquan Mountain Urban Forest Park, the Yima River Park creates a perfect view with harmony between man and nature. In the second phase of the park, a total of about 8,400 square meters of native bamboo trees has been preserved, becoming a stunning green corridor linking the old and new urban areas of Longquanyi District.The program also drew more attention of the public to the 2024 International Horticultural Exhibition, which is widely believed to be an extraordinary visual feast of flowers and gardening. The Chengdu people are now looking forward to the expo and the coming of friends from very corner of the world.