Qingdao has already started on a range of preparations for the 2014 International Horticultural Exposition.

Jiaodong yangko, a popular rural folk dance, heated up the opening ceremony of Qingdao Week at the Xi'an 2011 Horticulture Exposition.

After hosting the sailing regatta in the 2008 Olympic Games, Qingdao will again step onto the international stage when it presents the 2014 International Horticultural Exposition, said senior officials in the seaside city of East China's Shandong province.

"It is an honor to host the grand international event for the world's horticultural and floral industries," said Li Qun, secretary of the Qingdao municipal committee. "It means both pride and responsibility for the coastal city.

"It will be a great opportunity to enhance the city and expand its influence and reputation. We will absorb the core values of previous expos and showcase a most splendid event, as well as an open, prosperous, colorful, livable, happy and harmonious Qingdao," Li said.

On Oct 15, Qingdao Week began at the ongoing Xi'an 2011 Horticulture Exposition in the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province.

The largest and last city week at the Xi'an expo, Qingdao Week will bring the event to a peak this weekend. After the event concludes on Saturday, Qingdao will start preparations for the next horticultural gala in 2014.

"It is the last week for the Xi'an expo, but the first for Qingdao's. The handover announces that it enters 'Qingdao' time," said Li Fengli, secretary general of the Qingdao expo organizing committee.

Qingdao Week displays the city's charms to visitors through performances, parades, tourism promotions and photo exhibitions.

Qingdao has hosted many international sailing events. Liu Kunfeng / For China Daily

The organization committee also brought boats to highlight Qingdao's distinguishing feature as China's capital of sailing. Visitors can also taste the city's namesake Tsingtao Beer.

Each day, three shows are staged to display Qingdao's culture and fashion. Parades and floats show distinctive regional characteristics along with interactive events with sailboats and windsurf boards.

Mayor Xia Geng told the International Association of Horticultural Producers annual congress late last month that Qingdao "will make careful arrangements to speed up infrastructure construction on the expo park and its surrounding areas".

"Exhibitors from home and abroad will be warmly invited."

"With elaborate preparations, the 2014 expo is expected to be a creative and unique event," Xia said.

The mayor said the expo will "promote productivity in all sectors of horticulture and the use of horticultural products, as well as the general public's appreciation".

In response to environmental issues of global concerns, Qingdao will highlight the concepts of eco-protection, green and low-carbon processes and the integration between man and nature.

He said Qingdao will build an eco-tourism area in the north of the city to mirror the Olympic Sailing Center in the south.

Some 15 million tourists are expected to visit the area every year once it is finished.

"We will endeavor to promote the acceleration of innovation and creation, and to ensure intellectual property protection, so as to best represent the integration between industrial value and commerce," Xia said.

A number of design competitions will be organized under the guidelines of "fairness, justice, scientific principles and reasonable arrangements" for displays of the latest horticultural and floral products and innovation achievements.

The selection committee includes Meng Zhaozhen, academic at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Shouhei Fukui, chief planner of the Aichi-ken 2005 World Exposition.

The four best proposals for the expo's design have been selected from 43 international bids.

Wu Zhiqiang, chief planner of Shanghai World Expo and vice-president of Tongji University, is the chief planner who will take the lead in drawing up a master plan for the World Horticultural Exposition Park.

"We will offer universally beneficial exhibition conditions, a pleasing venue, quality services and exhibition reimbursement if necessary," said Wu.

The overall blueprint includes 21 specific plans, 13 of which have already been finished. Three are almost complete and work on the remaining five has been started.

Construction and design proposals for theme and botanical pavilions have been collected and the organizing committee is now drawing up implementation plans.

The city also seeks international input.

"We encourage all relevant organizations and members to participate in and join the exhibits at the 2014 expo, especially with the latest floral varieties, cultivating technologies, development trends, and recent applications."

(China Daily 10/20/2011 page24)