Some 523 cars are arranged at Weishui Garden in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, to form the shape of the Chang'an Flower, the emblem for the 2011 Xi'an World Horticultural Expo, July 4, 2010. [expo2011xa.com]

Emblem of the 2011 Xi'an World Horticultural Expo, the Chang'an Flower, also known as the Flower for Forever Peace. [expo2011xa.com]

A total of 523 cars of varied colors were arranged at Weishui Garden in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province, on Sunday to form the shape of the Chang'an Flower, the emblem for the 2011 Xi'an World Horticultural Expo.

Finished at 11:30 am, the whole process took nearly four hours.

The emblem, the Chang'an Flower, also known as the Flower for Forever Peace, gains its inspiration from pomegranate flowers.

Covering 120,000 square kilometers, the car arrangement has broken the Guinness world record with its huge area and large number of participating cars, and was certified by Wu Xiaohong, a Chinese representative working for the British Guinness Records Committee.

"Xi'an is often regarded as an ancient and historical city. Making the pattern with cars shows the city's modern side and also people's good wishes for next year's expo," said Mi Weixin, deputy secretary general of the Xi'an municipal government.

The event was one of a series of activities for private car owners in Xi'an to celebrate the expo. Other activities are planned, including a group drive to publicize the expo and one low carbon day without cars.

Zhang Rong, a Xi'an resident who owns a car, took part in the activity with great passion.

"For fear of being late for today's pattern making, I arrived at the garden one day earlier and stayed in a hotel last night," Zhang said. And she drove into the pattern-making queue at 6:00 am.

Zhang, who has a strong affection toward plants, told reporters that she was excited to have the chance to participate in plant-related activities in her city.

Organized by the International Bureau of Exposition (BIE) and the International Association of Horticultural Producers (IAHP), the expo in Xi'an is the third world horticultural expo to be held in China, following Kunming's Expo in 1999 and Shenyang's in 2006.

With an area of 418 hectares and an investment of 2 billion yuan ($294 million), Xi'an's expo, attracting over 100 domestic and foreign exhibitors, will begin on April 11 and end on October 11 in 2011, and is expected to draw 12 million visitors.