The greener the better, horticultural expo shows

With more than 110 countries and international organizations participating in the 2019 Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition that opens on Monday, it is an ideal platform for highlighting the importance of and promoting the concept of "Live Green, Live Better", which is this year's theme.

Staged over an area of 503 hectares in Beijing's Yanqing district, the expo will foster interaction and help promote dialogue between people of different cultures.

People have practiced the art of gardening since the earliest days of human civilization. Indeed, the hanging gardens of Babylon were known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. According to accounts, the mountain of rising terraces covered in trees and plants was built to ease the heart of Nebuchadnezzar's homesick wife, Amyitis, who, coming from a green mountainous land, found the sunbaked flat terrain of Mesopotamia depressing.