If you want to say something, the expression goes, say it with flowers. It is a concept that will take on new meaning in China this week, which on 29 April opens the doors to the world’s largest ever gardening show, a mammoth exhibition of plants, pavilions and soft power that forms part of celebrations marking the 70th birthday of the People’s Republic of China.
At the foot of the Taihang mountains in the Beijing suburb of Yanqing, an area the size of 500 football pitches has been fenced for the massive Beijing international horticultural exhibition, which dwarfs the Chelsea flower show by an eye-watering 495 hectares.
The vast show boasts more than 1,000 varieties of Chinese flowers, 100 indoor and outdoor gardens, and pavilions hosted by more than 80 countries. Organisers expect 16 million visitors – more than the number of tickets sold at the 2012 Olympic Games in London – to pass through its doors.