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Mascot of the Expo, 'Ling Ling' [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]
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According to statistics, the beautiful scenery here attracts around 80% of Kunming's newly-weds to shoot their wedding photos and the garden receives around 2000 visitors per day. Now the garden has become one of the top tourist destinations in Yunnan and still proves to be very profitable.
Tang Houyan tells us more:
"The Expo drives tourism in Yunnan. Tourists who visit the Expo are likely to visit its neighboring cities such as Dali and Lijiang. Moreover, it helped the municipal construction of Yunnan ten years ahead of time. It also provided job opportunities to people like me."
Following the Expo, Kunming maintained the Expo Garden in its original form. While 10 years have passed, the garden still welcomes thousands of visitors every day and the Expo Company is now a listed corporation on China's stock market. Zhang Bibo, general manager of the company, says they are making efforts to create an Expo brand.
"After the Expo, we redeveloped the service facilities in the garden to continue to keep the park open to visitors. We kept the original look of the garden. Meanwhile, we added some interactive activities for tourists, thus making it a comprehensive entertainment place for them. We are trying to make the Expo Garden become a brand which will attract more people."
24-year-old Shanxi resident Jiang Xinyan is fascinated by the reputation of the Garden she visited with her boyfriend during the May Day holiday. She says she is amazed by its beautiful scenery.
"I am surprised and excited to see so many real flowers in this garden because I rarely see them in my hometown. I am also amazed by its originality, for example, the China Hall and the International Hall are novel and imaginative buildings."
