In recent years, Shaanxi province has seen some progress in its reforestation and is becoming greener as the date of the Xi'an International Horticultural Exposition approaches.

This is important because mostly Shaanxi sits on a loess plateau and used to impress people not with its greenery but with its sand storms and murky yellow sky, according to Yao Yinliang, the vice-governor, and vice- chairman of the expo organizing committee.

So, the expo organizers are working hard to prepare for it and Yao, who inspected the site on Dec 16, said that, obviously, "The horticultural expo is a great opportunity to promote Shaanxi's new image." The expo takes place in 2011.

So far, work on the site is going well: 37, out of a total of 109 outdoor gardens, have been built, including the Guangzhou, Harbin and Chengdu exhibits as well as Italian and Swedish ones.

The remaining gardens and major buildings will be completed by the end of this year. The roads, bridges, and water, electricity and gas facilities are still being worked on.

The expo has four landmarks - a Chang'an Tower, Theme Pavilion, Green House, and Guangyun Entrance - which are almost completed.

The whole site is clearly visible from the top of the 13-story Chang'an Tower.

Chen Baogen, Xi'an's mayor, explained that, "The expo is the largest, highest-level international event Shaanxi province has ever held since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.

"This is a great opportunity to show the world a green, modern, fashionable and international Xi'an."

The city's public garden administration announced in November that it has an ambitious plan to decorate the whole city with flowers and various plants for the duration of the expo (April to October).

So, it is placing 600,000 pots of flowers along main streets and even alleyways in the old town, inside the city walls,.

And there will be five "flower harbors" in the high-tech zone, the economic and technological development zone, the Qujiang new district, the scenic city wall area, and the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Daming Palace area.

Flowers will also decorate major transportation hubs like the airport and railway station, and historical neighborhoods, big hotels and shopping malls.

The administration will do a check on these flower zones by April 25 and will ask residents to vote on the 30 best spots.

Global friendships and green convention

The expo has received the support of college students from across the country. In fact, youth league leaders from 100 universities met in Xi'an on Nov 14 for an expo promotion campaign.

Liu Aiping, a senior Communist Youth League official, and Du Huiliang, vice-secretary general of the All-China Student Federation, opened the campaign along with members of the organizing committee.

They took the opportunity to sign a "Green Convention", on behalf of college students, to urge young people to pay greater attention to an environmentally friendly, energy-saving, low-carbon life.

Guo Yong, secretary of the Tsinghua University Communist Youth League, said the gathering would help the country's college students better understand the expo and the importance of a "green, low-carbon life".

"We should start right now with the little things we can do in our daily lives to contribute to an environmentally friendly society, which is the mission of our generation," Guo said.

Through March of 2011, college students will be able to attend lectures, see sculptures and win special awards all related to the expo.

The organizers have tried targeting other people all over the world, over the Internet.

On Dec 18, the organizing committee signed an agreement with www.tianya.cn, a popular Chinese online forum, to promote an environmentally friendly, low-carbon lifestyle among Chinese around the globe.

(China Daily 01/03/2011 page12)