Shanghai kicked off its 10th Shanghai Citizens' Greening Festival and the inaugural Magnolia Culture Festival on March 26. The festival aims to encourage residents to embrace nature through over 600 gardening activities.

The opening ceremony was held on the bank of the Huangpu River in Xuhui district. The festival celebrates the integration of greenery into urban living, with floral displays, gardening workshops, and pop-up flower markets across the city's communities.

As an important part of Shanghai's urban gardening service ecosystem, the festival aims to enhance residents' access to the benefits of urban nature. It has expanded in scale each year since its founding in 2015, establishing nearly 15,000 popular events.

Shanghai is developing a family gardening service system to improve community gardening services and deliver integrated one-stop gardening networks aligned with the 15-minute neighborhood life circle vision. Currently, the city has established 106 gardening centers and a team of 341 greening experts and volunteers serve as community gardeners, achieving full coverage across all districts and towns.

Cultural creative products featuring magnolias. [Photo/Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau of Xuhui District]

This year, the Magnolia Culture Festival was launched to promote Shanghai's cultural emblems and raise awareness of the magnolia, the city's official flower.

The festival will feature a variety of themed activities, including showcasing magnolia cultivation and displays, setting up magnolia-themed landmarks at Shanghai's renowned sites, and hosting magnolia exhibitions.

A magnolia cultural and creative market and photo exhibition were also held on the day of the ceremony. Additionally, ten people were awarded the 2024 Magnolia Promotion Ambassador certificates for their outstanding contributions to advancing magnolia culture.

Cultural creative products featuring magnolias. [Photo/Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau of Xuhui District]

Sources: j.021east.com, Landscaping and City Appearance Administrative Bureau of Xuhui District