Wang Jingli

wangjingli0715@163.com

THE Greater Bay Area (GBA) Flower Show, a much-expected feast for the eyes, officially kicked off Saturday during an opening ceremony held at its main venue at the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden in Luohu District.

The flower show, which will last until April 17, has also set up a subvenue at Xiangmihu Flower Wonderland in Futian District, bringing the total exhibition area to over 22,500 square meters.

The 10-day show, themed “Flowers and Dreams,” has attracted 80 exhibitors from 13 countries and regions.

The main venue features 22 gardens in eight exhibition areas to display over 1,000 new flower varieties. This year’s theme flower is Rhododendrons.

Zhang Guohong, director general of the city’s urban administration and law enforcement bureau, said at the opening ceremony that “the purpose of hosting the GBA Flower Show is to disseminate ecological civilization ideas, promote exchanges and cooperation among cities in the GBA, enrich the cultural life of citizens, and promote development of the flower industry.”

A total of nine international gardens, designed by horticulturalists from countries including France, the U.K., South Korea, Japan, Australia and the U.S. and currently displayed at the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden’s paradise scenery and lakeshore lawn areas, attracted a lot of attention Saturday.

Sarah Eberle from the U.K., whose garden design was inspired by William Shakespeare’s play — “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” hoped the concept garden could make people think about nature. The garden also won the Best Garden Award at the opening ceremony.

Eberle, who attended the flower show for the first time, said it is being held at a beautiful location with very high standards.

Christian Troy Jenkins, the Australian designer of an international garden named Pause, introduced that the garden is an Asian-style garden for people to take time out with friends, family and loved ones.

At the main venue, there are also camping areas and flower stalls to enrich the visitors’ experience.

Before visiting, one must book a ticket to the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden via its official WeChat account (szbgac). The garden’s opening hours are from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the flower show and a maximum of 50,000 visitors are allowed each day.

There is also traffic control on roads around the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden during the flower show. Visitors are encouraged to take public transportation.

The GBA Flower Show has been held in Shenzhen three times since 2019 and received over 1.4 million visitors in total.