A performer dances during the opening ceremony of the International Horticultural Expo in Qingdao, east China's Shandong Province, April 25, 2014. The 2014 Qingdao International Horticultural Expo will last 184 days until October. [Li Ziheng/Xinhua]

To ensure that visitors to the expo park are exposed to a variety of "green" technology, gardening artists and architects have been encouraged to use materials that are renewable and environmentally friendly.

The skeleton of the Plants Garden is made out of steel and recyclable glass that can be disassembled and reused, while its air-conditioning system features a ground-source heat pump (GSHP) that emits less greenhouse gases.

The site of the expo park itself is a demonstration of green ways. Licang district used to be dotted with mining zones. Years of mining degraded land and vegetation.

In June 2010, the city began to refurbish the area by restoring disused quarries and planting trees. The area is now carpeted in flowers and other greenery.

"By turning this shabby mining zone into an ecological city, we hope that both the city and the public will be more aware of how to maintain the balance between people and nature," said Jiang Zehui, vice chair of the Committee on Population, Resources and Environment at the CPPCC, China's political consultant body.

The municipal government of Qingdao has promised that the expo park will be for urbanites after the event ends.

"The AIPH believes that the best cities in the future will be green ones, that means really green, not just green by using renewable energy or increasing recycling rates, the landscape will be green," Briercliffe said.