The actual site of the International Horticultural Exposition 2011 Xi'an is Guangyun Lake. It is located at the bank of Chan-Ba known as "Bashang". Guangyun Lake was a major port in ancient China. A poem describing a grand scene a thousand year ago goes, “Over the Ba River stands a row of willows and a causeway. And the Guanzhong Region of Shaanxi Province boasts a charming Guangyun Lake.” During the Tianbao period (742-756 AD)of the Tang dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong held a large-scale water transport exposition and trade fair here to encourage commerce and trade and display region’s capability in smooth water transport. This event in ancient times marked the beginning of the World expo.

After a thousand years of glory, what used to be a thriving ferry terminal is now faced with many serious environmental problems: ecological damage and the risk of geologic disaster due to long-term unplanned development, river pollution, excessive dredging and garbage dumping.

In January of 2005, when the Guangyun Lake Project officially launched, the local government, with high emphasis on the ecological impact of construction, took effective measures based on local conditions to improve the city’s ecological system. They overhauled the sandpit formed by illegal dredging, transforming the pit into a lake and dry land into an oasis and diverting the water of the Ba River into the lake. As a result, a panoramic view of good ecological landscape consisting of lakes, islands, ponds and deep pools will be unfolded in front of visitors. Meanwhile, the major ecological management projects including the “Clean Water Project”, “Yanming Lake Wetland Project” and the “Taohua Lake Ecological Management Project” were launched to address three major ecological hazards, thus reproducing the beautiful scene where “Over the Ba River stands a row of willows and a causeway” in the Guangyun Lake.

Today, it only takes 20 minutes to go from the Guangyun Lake to downtown and 40 minutes to the airport by car. The Lake is adjacent to the extension line of the 2nd Ring in the south, the Circling Expressway in the north and 3rd Ring Expressway in the west. The beautiful landscape of abundant water and green lands has retaken shape. In a 6-km long and 2.3-km wide area lies the Willow Landscape Belt along the Ba River, the Sightseeing Landscape Zone, the Ecological Wetland Tourist Zone and the Travel & Vacation Landscape Zone from south to north, forming a “one belt and three zones” layout and constituting an organic landscape. Undoubtedly, the great transformation of Guangyun Lake from ecological disaster to the model of ecological management is of epoch-making significance.