Wang Jingli wangjingli0715@163.com IN spring, the southern China is awash with blooming flowers that turn all who venture outside into admirers of its floral beauty. The Greater Bay Area Flower Show 2024, in its fifth edition, runs through April 1 at its Bijia Mountain Sports Park and Lianhua Hill Park main venues and Xiangmihu Flower Wonderland subvenue in Futian District. With over 38,000 square meters of exhibition space and 44 gardens, this year’s show has a lot to explore. The show has red larkspur flowers on display for the first time. Larkspur (Delphinium) is this year’s theme flower, which symbolizes the city’s free and open spirit. Throngs of visitors have been attracted to the exhibition. As people meandered through rows of dazzling petals and leaves, their faces lit up with smiles, and their hands were busy with cameras and cell phones, trying to capture the beauty. A citizen surnamed Li said: “Witnessing the bloom of flowers in spring is a beautiful affair. Just looking at these flowers and capturing their beauty in photographs elevates the spirit.” Intl. designers The corporate garden area in the Bijia Mountain Sports Park showcases five gardens created by designers from China, the U.K., Australia, South Africa, and Uruguay. One of the gardens, titled “I Live with Nature,” was built with virtual reality (VR) technology. The garden’s pavilion was created remotely, with no construction drawings, using only VR headsets, according to Naomi Atkinson, a member of the design team from the U.K. “We cooperated with the University of Bergamo and Princeton University to design a 3D model and sent it to the landscape team here in Shenzhen. They wore VR headsets to place each brick in the pavilion. This allowed us to create a complex structural shape very quickly,” said Atkinson, who hopes that this new technology can increase the efficiency of building interesting shapes. The garden includes shady, sunny, and wet areas populated with a variety of plants and flowers that create a relaxing and calming space. Christian Jenkins, a garden designer from Australia, created a garden inspired by nature, which features a winding boardwalk that leads visitors on a journey through its tranquil landscape. At the end of the boardwalk, there is a beautiful, organically shaped structure inspired by Australia’s iconic Sydney Opera House. “Ultimately, the garden is about connecting with nature. And it’s just a wonderful place to be able to go and sit with family and friends to really enjoy the wonderful beauty that nature has and the calming effect that it has on our lives,” said Jenkins. Show highlights The GBA flower show was initiated in 2019. The previous four shows were held in the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden in Luohu District. For the first time in its history, the flower show has moved to the downtown area this year. The change in location was made to highlight an urban hiking trail network project that was completed at the beginning of the year and links five urban parks in the city’s center. Organizers hope that the move will merge high-quality gardening with the urban landscape. In addition to the floral displays, the event also features a series of unique cultural activities, including a market, foodie festival, and photography workshop, offering visitors a taste of both natural beauty and local culture. The ongoing first Shenzhen Natural Goodies Festival will run until April 1. | 