As Shanghai residents have been impressed with the various 3D flowerbeds being displayed in the city's Century Park, the organizer of the exhibition has said citizens should get set to enjoy even more colorful and diverse plants in the eastern metropolis.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Parthenon in Athens, traditional fishing in Belgium and the Five Pavilion Bridge in east China's Yangzhou city. Residents in Shanghai can now see all of these famous tourist attractions with their own eyes without traveling outside of their city home. Although just models, to people here, these sculptures made of various plants and flowers are equally attractive in other ways.

The 3D flowerbeds are on display at the largest park in the metropolis, Century Park, as exhibits for the Shanghai Mosaiculture International. Eighty-two plant sculptures from 55 cities in 15 countries around the world have come to be showcased, leaving the audience impressed by the diverse displays.

"We can see the different cultures and traditions from both the East and West."

"There are a great amount of exhibits here and they are all good. They display different things, including scenic spots, traditions and legends."

But, for the organizer, the significance of holding the mosaiculture exhibition is more than just to please visitors.

Sun Jiayi, marketing director for Century Park, said: "This is an exchange of horticulture. Through this activity, we can transplant many species of plants from abroad, which during other times we would have had to buy at very high prices. Since this event is for cultural exchange, we have obtained the new species as a gift. Now that Shanghai has these new plants, we can transplant them to other Chinese cities too."

Since the 1990s, Shanghai has been accelerating its construction of green areas and ecological environments. By the end of 2005, green coverage of the city had reached 37 percent, with an average 11 square meters of green space per person. The city, though now becoming greener and greener, used to be criticized by insiders for its small plant variety and plain horticulture arrangements.

The two-month long mosaiculture event will welcome 12 million plants from 390 different species to the city.

This is the third time Mosaiculture International has been held, with the previous two staged in Montreal, Canada, the city that originally launched the activity.

Mosaiculture is a word from French describing the bedding of plants into patterns like a mosaic, usually geometrical or representational in form.

(CRI October 12, 2006)