The International Horticultural Exhibition, hosted by the Chinese government, will be held on April 29 in Beijing, which marks the highest-level and largest international expo in China this year. The exhibition will last till October 7. According to the organizer, the exhibition not only offers tourists a feast of wonderful horticulture and gardens, but also embodies China's ideal of sharing development achievements with the world and pursuing a green lifestyle. INBAR Garden, making its debut on the exhibition, is the epitome of this ideal. The highlight of the garden lies in exploiting elements of Meishan to the full. Meishan, a city in Sichuan Province of China, 60 kilometers away from the provincial capital Chengdu, is home to Su Dongpo, China's prestigious literary giant. And it is hailed as "Home of Chinese Bamboo Weaving Art" and "International Capital of Bamboo Weaving". In the exhibition, with the theme of "Live Green, Live Better", Meishan joins hands with the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR) to carry out a range of public events and activities to lively demonstrate the unique and vital role of bamboo and rattan in improving our living environment and quality of life. Among over 3,000 bamboo and rattan products from the world exhibited in the INBAR Garden, such as bamboo lanterns, bamboo weaving paintings, bamboo-over-porcelain wares and bamboo paper, more than 70% of them come from Meishan. Judy Zhu, Director of Strategic Partner Division, INBAR, said that Meishan is chosen as a partner because it takes the initiative to show a new and positive attitude towards opening up, and to move towards the international arena through the bamboo industry. Meishan, as a key region of bamboo resources in China, abounds with bamboo. Bamboo here boasts long tubes, sparse joints, and flexible and tough texture, thus suitable for making bamboo weaving products. As early as 2008, a cooperation started between Qingshen's bamboo-weaving, the most represented among Meishan bamboo weaving arts, and Hermes, a French luxury brand. Top-class porcelain-bodied bamboo wares are provided for Hermes and the cooperation has lasted ever since. Qingshen's bamboo-weaving, together with silk and Sichuan embroidery, is called "Three Treasures of Middle of Sichuan". It is a protected product listed by China Geographical Indications. It covers more than 3,000 product systems of 25 kinds, such as plane bamboo weaving, dimensional bamboo weaving and porcelain-bodied bamboo wares. Such weaving products are exported to over 50 countries and regions in Europe, the United States, Korea and Japan. Bamboo weaving demonstrates only the single fact that people in Meishan master bamboo weaving techniques well. A kind of household paper made of bamboo fibers and the first brand of natural household paper, BABO, in China have also been creatively developed by people in Meishan. Products of BABO have passed the food-grade testing of FDA empowered by the United States and AP empowered by the European Union. According to the latest data, the production capacity of Meishan's "bamboo paper" has exceeded 200,000 tons, and such products have occupied over 20% of China's domestic market. In addition to bamboo weaving and bamboo paper, people in Meishan have also brought other values of bamboo into full play. In Hongya County, Meishan, after finished with processes covering repeated compacting and drying, bamboo can be transformed into high-performance material, bamboo steel, which has the same strength as fiberglass reinforced plastics. Bamboo steel can be used not only for building structure, but also for decking, interior doors and windows, and other filed, with service life lasting for up to 50 years. The gate of the INBAR Garden for this session of International Horticultural Exhibition and the "Fruits Garden" are all built with Meishan bamboo steel. As a traditional competitive industry in Meishan, Meishan bamboo industry has developed three major brands, namely, "bamboo weaving, bamboo paper and bamboo steel". In 2018, the total output value of bamboo industry in Meishan reached RMB 6 billion. "I would rather eat without meat than live in a place without bamboo", composed by Su Dongpo, a prestigious literary giant in China. All his life, Su wrote about, ate foods related to and painted bamboo. With bamboo as his companion, Su can be said as the person of ancient and modern times showing the maximum preference for bamboo. Nowadays, Meishan, a famous historical and cultural city in southwestern China, is attracting worldwide attention with bamboo, the bridge connecting the world. Source: INBAR